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My fiancée will be moving to the UK from the US at the end of the year. She has a medical disorder, which took a long time to diagnose, for which she is now receiving treatment. This involves taking medication and regular visits to a specialist. All of this treatment is available on the NHS.

I'm hoping you can tell what is the most efficient way to transfer her treatment to the UK, so that she can be seen under the NHS when she is here? In particular, she is anxious to avoid having to go through all of the tests again and to have to be rediagnosed, which I assume would be the default position if she were just to show up at a GP.

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    Will she be on the kind of visa where she's allowed to use the NHS? Or will she need to go privately?
    – Gagravarr
    Apr 20, 2017 at 4:39
  • @Gagravarr would it make a difference? Is there any better advice than bringing as much documentation and previous results as possible, letters and contact of the treating doctors in the US?
    – mts
    Jul 28, 2017 at 20:59
  • @mts I suspect an overworked NHS doctor may be more inclined to skim read the docs then largely follow something similar if NICE agree, while a private doctor may be more inclined to check everything thoroughly over multiple visits, though the private appointments would probably be longer!
    – Gagravarr
    Jul 29, 2017 at 9:30

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In the United States, under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), only the individual has the right to access their records and, only with the patient's express consent, can the information be shared with other providers (or systems).

The most expeditious way is electronically, but both the US records and the UK provider must have to the ability to communicate electronically. Before leaving the US, the patient would authorize disclosure for any and/or all records, and it may require it be to a specific provider, i.e., not a general authorization for anyone in another country and system (NHS).

To do it manually, the person would secure copies of any and all records, in all forms that they are kept (paper, films, cd-rom of scans etc.), and from all sources, and carry them along. This is not always rapid, and may take days or weeks, and there may be fees involved. Often, when individuals move within the United States, this is what is done, making sure they have their relevant medical history and documentation.

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