To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx

 

Our ref: DE00000455595

 

 

 

Dear Mr Williams,

 

Thank you for your email of 30 October to the Department of Health requesting, under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, details about the reciprocal healthcare agreement ( HCA ) currently in place with the Isle of Man government, including details of the sum total of any payments made to or received from the Isle of Man government in each of the last three financial years (ending in April 2009).  Your request has been passed to me for reply.

 

The Department does hold information relevant to your request. 

 

As you may be aware, section 21 of the FOI Act allows public bodies to redirect applicants where information is already available in the public domain.  The agreement to which you refer covers the cost of similar medical treatment to that provided by the NHS, and further information about this is available on the NHS website at the following link: www.nhs.uk/healthcareabroad.  You can access specific information about the Isle of Man HCA by selecting ‘ Isle of Man ’ from the alphabetical list of Non-EEA countries available here: www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/Pages/NonEEAcountries.aspx.  The agreement with the Isle of Man will come to an end on 31 March 2010 .

 

UK residents are currently advised to take out private insurance in the same way as they are when visiting any country in the world.

 

The UK receives no funding from the Isle of Man.  However, details of financial allocations made by the Department of Health to the Isle of Man over the past three financial years are provided below, as requested.  

 

Level of allocation

 

 

If you have any queries about this response, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

 

I hope this reply is helpful.  If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:

 

Head of the Freedom of Information Team

Department of Health

Room 317

Richmond House

79 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2NS

  

Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department.  The ICO can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Aimee Gasston

Freedom of Information Officer

Department of Health