# NHS treatment



## mickyt (Oct 20, 2009)

Hello all

I live and have lived in Spain for 15 years - I don't have a residencia but do have a Spanish passport.

I've recently discovered that I need to have an operation and am trying to find out if I am still eligible to have this via the NHS in Englad. I'm in my forties.

Any clarification of this would be very useful. I've been trying to get an answer to this all week and still haven't had a satisfactory one.

Thank you


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

mickyt said:


> Hello all
> 
> I live and have lived in Spain for 15 years - I don't have a residencia but do have a Spanish passport.
> 
> ...


Hi MickyT.

You say you have a Spanish passport. Which registro civil are you registered in then? Please excuse my ignorance, but if that registro civil is in Spain, then you have got residencia. If not, and you are registered in a Spanish consulate abroad, then the registro central in Madrid can provide you with the "partida de nacimiento" in order to obtain a DNI. From here, you go to your local SS office and get a social security number. Then, you register in the SS and as discussed many times in this forum, your right to use their services depend on a large number of factors - only you know if you meet those requirements or not.

As to the UK, and the 15 years you mention you've spent living here in Spain, the simple answer is have you been officially living here in Spain for 15 years, or are you officially still living in the UK, only haven't done tax returns, been to your GP there in 15 years? etc etc...

In other words, are you, so far as the world of officialdom is concerned, still in the UK? If yes, you can take a chance and you might be lucky. If not, then the UK NHS will not be covering you. Sorry I can't be more precise, but as you might appreciate there are very few details to work with.

Xose


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

A simple way of looking at it maybe where are your medical records?? Do you still have a GP in the UK? Who decided you need an operation???? I suspect that you are no longer eligible for NHS cover. But if you are, you'd have to start the process by going to visit your GP in the UK, who would then have to refer you to a consultant and it would be for him to decide if you need an op, you cant simply fly over there, tell them you need an operation and get one! As Xosé says. The details need filling in!

Jo xxxx


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

mickyt said:


> Any clarification of this would be very useful. I've been trying to get an answer to this all week and still haven't had a satisfactory one.


To be eligible for no-charge, non-emergency treatment on the NHS, you need to be "habitually resident". If you move back to the UK, you can become "habitually resident" from day one -- the ECHR Swaddling case is the precedent for this.

You've written nothing in your post to suggest that you would qualify under the circumstances you describe.


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