Treatment

Are you from abroad, and wish to know whether you are entitled to free treatment under the National Health Service? THT Direct can help you to find out whether you qualify for free treatment.

If you are an overseas visitor you might be worried that you cannot get NHS treatment. However it’s important to remember that a hospital cannot refuse to give you essential treatment for a condition that is "life threatening." The doctor has to decide what is essential, but this usually includes HIV treatment if your CD4 count is below 350.

The hospital may still ask you to pay later, but they should first give you the medicines that you need.

The rules about who can and who can’t get NHS treatment are complex, and often change. It sometimes happens that NHS officials make mistakes and wrongly tell people that they can’t get treatment. If you’ve been told that you can’t get HIV treatment you can get advice from THT Direct or the Refugee Council.

You cannot be refused essential treatment for either of these reasons:

because the hospital doesn’t think you are entitled to free NHS treatment
because the hospital doesn’t think you will pay the bill

The most important thing to remember is that you should always take your treatment. If you are worried about being asked to pay for it, then THT Direct can help you afterwards.

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