How the public health system works for people with visas
The United Kingdom has the largest publicly funded health service programme in the world, with a budget of over 100 billion pounds a year. The Labour Party, who were instrumental in creating this service after the end of the Second World War, still regard it as their greatest achievement. The huge expenses of running the service have just continued to grow over the last half a century, and several steps have had to be taken to try and keep the budget under some kind of control. Charges are now made for an drugs prescribed to patients, and only the poorest members of society are exempt.
There are treatments which are never available free to anyone, such as optical and dentistry services. Some of the very poorest people can get the charges paid for under benefit systems, but the vast majority will not. It is also far harder than the bureaucrats will admit to find a dentist who will work with National Service Patients. Most dentists can fill their appointment books with higher paying private patients. To qualify for the parts of National Health Service treatment which are still available free, you need to be "ordinarily resident" in the United Kingdom. This rule is necessary, but it does create a lot of "grey areas" when it comes to people visiting the country on visas.
The one area where the law is absolutely clear is in the case of Accident and Emergency services, which are available to everybody regardless of whether they are British citizens, British residents, or just visitors. This obviously necessary as it would put lives at risk if the system was to work any other way. If you are planning to visit the United Kingdom, you can at least rest assured that you will never be denied the emergency treatment you desperately need. The problems will arise if you are then transferred to another part of the hospital, or given another form of treatment.
Here, the situation will depend entirely on which other country you have come from. If you are from a country within the European Economic Area, you will probably not have to pay. If you are a refugee or stateless person and you have come from within the same area, again you will be exempt from charges. There are other countries outside the European Union which have a reciprocal health care agreement, so you will need to check whether or not your country is on that list. The list is available online, but in a changing world it is best to check directly with your own travel office. If you come from a country outside this list, it is imperative that you take out insurance to cover you from any unexpected health related expenses