Healthcare in Scotland: you pay the IHS upfront, then GP, prescriptions and eye tests are free

In Scotland you do not take out health insurance. If you come on a visa, you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) when you apply, a healthcare charge on the visa. With it you use NHS Scotland, the Scottish public health service, like everyone who lives there. NHS inform, the Scottish health website, lists as free:

• the GP and the pharmacy;
• hospitals, clinics and emergency services;
• eye examinations and dental check-ups.

Prescriptions in Scotland have been free since 1 April 2011. That is the big difference with England, where you pay per item. What you do pay yourself is mainly dental treatment and glasses.

How much is the IHS?

Who	Per year
Adult	£1,035
Child under 18	£776
Student or Youth Mobility	£776
Health and Care Worker and family	nothing
Visitor, or a visa of six months or less from outside the UK	nothing

You pay the surcharge upfront, for the full length of your visa. A three-year visa therefore costs an adult £3,105. Your partner and children each pay their own share.

With a valid visa you are exempt from NHS charges, says NHS inform. That applies among others to people working in Scotland, to students and to people joining a spouse or civil partner who is ordinarily resident there. NHS Scotland does not pass patient details to the Home Office for immigration enforcement.

How do you register with a GP?

Do it in your first week, not only when someone is ill. This is how it works:

• Find a GP practice near you. Not every practice covers every address.
• Ask the practice how they want to receive your application.
• Fill in the registration form and email it. No signature is needed.
• You hear by phone or email whether your registration was successful.

Proof of identity and address is recommended, but NHS inform states explicitly that you should not be delayed or refused if you cannot provide it. You can register if you are staying in the area for more than three months; otherwise you are treated as a temporary resident. A practice can refuse you if you live outside its area or if it is not accepting new patients. If you cannot register anywhere, the registration teams of National Services Scotland can help.

If this is your first registration in the UK, medical records from outside the UK are not traced. So bring a printout of your Dutch medical record and your list of medication yourself.

What is your CHI number?

Once you are registered, you are entered in the Community Health Index (CHI), the central patient register of NHS Scotland. You get a CHI number, a unique patient number used throughout NHS Scotland to identify you. When you register, the practice also receives your NHS number. The register is shared with, among others, the national screening programmes. Keep your CHI number with your papers.