Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘1: How many people applied for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) from outside the UK in each of the full calendar years from 2019 to 2023 (inclusive)?

2: How many people have applied for a PRC from outside the UK in 2024 so far?

If the data is only available on a tax year basis, please provide the figures for the following tax years: 6 April 2019 to 5 April 2020, 6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021, 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022, 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023, 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 29 May 2024.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds some of the information you have requested and a copy of the information and notes explaining it is below. Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

The NHSBSA Overseas Healthcare Services issue a PRC for medically necessary healthcare that cannot reasonably wait until the named individual returns home. Medically necessary healthcare includes things like:

emergency treatment and visits to A&E

treatment for a long-term or pre-existing medical condition

routine medical care for pre-existing conditions that need monitoring

routine maternity care, as long as you're not going abroad to give birth

oxygen therapy and kidney dialysis

If someone is eligible for a PRC, it will normally provide the same cover that would be covered by an existing UK GHIC or UK EHIC. This means that they will be covered for emergency treatment costs as if they were a resident of that country.

A PRC only covers the named person for treatment they receive(d) at a public hospital, clinic or other treatment facility. If the individual received private treatment, they would need to consult their travel insurance.

Applications can be made by the patient, a third party e.g. a parent or guardian, a treatment facility, or a country. All PRCs are issued for people receiving treatment outside of the UK, however as applications can be made by third parties the location of the applicant is not recorded.

For more information on what the PRC covers, please follow the below link:

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/

The figures quoted below are for PRCs which were issued by the UK only and shows the number of people PRC applications were made for. There may be some double counting of applications at the end of a year and the start of the next year. 

Question 1

The figures quoted below for 2019 and part of 2020 are the number of PRCs issued per person only and do not include applications which were incomplete or rejected. This is because these types of applications were not recorded during this period. For all other years, this includes applications made whether incomplete, successful or unsuccessful.

2019 – 14,941

2020 – 9,035

2021 – 8,092

2022 – 15,236

2023 – 24,106

Question 2

The following figure is the number of applications received by the NHSBSA between the period of 1 January 2024 and 31 May 2024.

2024 – 9,218

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2024” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.