GovWire

From 18 August 2023, the Secretary of State will have the power to authorise payments for healthcare outside the scope of a healthcare arrangement in countries with which we have a reciprocal healthcare arrangement in place. This is subject to the condition that the payment is justified by exceptional circumstances.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has developed this exceptional circumstances policy framework (the framework) to support the exercise of this power - making it clear to the public, health boards and NHS agencies across the UK how we envisage discretion being exercised in practice.

The framework sets out the factors the Secretary of State will take into account when making discretionary funding decisions in exceptional circumstances. The framework ensures discretionary funding powers are implemented consistently and fairly for patients across the UK, and supports transparency and accountability in the use of public funding for public services.

The public consultation that informed this policy framework ran from 24 April to 16 June 2023.