Request

Please provide the Equality Impact assessment relating to the policy and procedures concerning the issue of GHIC cards by NHS BSA.

Please provide and memo, letter, email or documentation regarding;

a) whether the legality of ‘dependents’ rights being removed should the applicant lose their rights (by choice or otherwise) was even discussed;

b) the Equality impact or legal advice surrounding the decision to strip dependents of their rights (even though they are adults with full capacity) due to the actions of the main applicant.

c) Why this policy was adopted in favour of individual applications albeit they could be conflated into a single application with each being treated independently but the outcome not dependent upon the other.’

Response

Questions a, b and c

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority. The authority does not set policy on rights of UK GHIC customers, and therefore we do not hold the requested information.

However, it is possible that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) may hold some or all of the information you require. They can be contacted at:

Department of Health and Social Care

Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit

Department of Health and Social Care

39 Victoria Street

London

SW1H 0EU

Contact form https://contactus.dhsc.gov.uk/

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-24427