Advice on prescriptions for medication when travelling abroad

On this page, you will find further information about prescriptions for travelling abroad.

Under United Kingdom law, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for the medical care of patients when they leave the UK.  In addition, under the terms of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract, General Practice surgeries are not required to provide prescriptions for the treatment of conditions that are not present at the point of travel but might arise while the patient is abroad. Further information on the terms of the NHS GMS contract are available here (page 81, section 13.14):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/general-medical-services-contract-2023-24-august-2023

The NHS does accept responsibility for supplying ongoing medication for temporary periods abroad, for periods of up to three months. Some medications, such as certain controlled drugs, may only be prescribed for periods of up to twenty-eight days at any one time.

If a person is going to be abroad for more than three months, then the NHS will provide a sufficient supply of regular medication in order for the patient to get to their destination, where they should the find an alternative supply of that medication.

Further information is available here:

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad

https://www.gov.uk/take-medicine-in-or-out-uk