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Emigrating and what NHS can do

inertav
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Hello,
I have CML and it's managed well with TKI treatment, which means I will almost certainly be on 1 tablet daily for the rest of my life.

I am a UK citizen and resident, and my wife and I will be emigrating to an EU country to either continue working or retire in the next year or two.

Has anyone experience of actually doing this?

Everyone I contact at NHS or my haematologist (and team) have no idea what's involved. The NHS website just says if you're not a resident we won't help you. Other web resources aren't clear or contractionary. I realise of course I will need to contact the health authority of our destination, but it would be very helpful to speak with someone who has real-life experience of doing this.

many thanks and I wish you all well

  • Hello inertav and welcome to the Cancer Chat forum.

    I hope you hear back from some of our members soon but in the meantime, I wanted to try and help with some of the queries you have about accessing NHS healthcare once you've moved abroad.

    When emigrating on a permanent basis you'll no longer be automatically entitled to medical treatment in the UK under normal NHS rules as the NHS is a residence-based healthcare system. However, some people living abroad are eligible for healthcare paid for by the UK under the S1 scheme and recent changes in legislation following Brexit now state that if you have a valid registered UK issued S1 certificate and are visiting the UK, from 1 January 2024 you can get state funded healthcare that an ordinary resident would receive in England without charge. 

    It's important to take into consideration that following the departure from the EU, legislation for UK Nationals is subject to change so it is advisory to follow the procedures for arranging on-going healthcare in your country of residency.

    For further information and advice, we'd suggest taking a look at this guide the GOV.UK website has about living in other countries and this article on the NHS website about planning your healthcare when living abroad.

    I hope this helps, and I'm wishing you and your wife all the best with your move to Europe.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

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