NHS healthcare for au pairs from EU

[JennyWren]

I went into my GP today to pick up the forms for my (first) au pair to register at the practice - she arrives on Saturday [gulp].

The forms say that she needs to show her EHIC card. I know what that is, but will she? If I e-mail her and ask her to make sure she brings it with her, will she know what I am talking about - is it known by the same name in German?

Any help gratefully received!! And is there anything else I should ask her to bring? I have remembered to ask her to bring her driving licence/ID card with her home address on, so that she can open a bank account...

Hmmm... I don't think my Polish nanny needed this... nor the Canadians... nor the Estonian (although I doubt the Estonian ever went to the doctor because she was more of a homeopathy kind of girl).

Surely if one can prove she is an EU citizen and her address she qualifies for NHS care.

I think I would just ask her to bring whatever medical card she has in Germany.

My ex-au pair (German) didn't need to show anything to get NHS care. Am trying to register latest (also German) au pair at the GPs tomorrow so will check again then.
Re: Bank accounts, our other au pairs have not had bank accounts but current au pair is trying to open one and has needed proof of address in the UK rather than proof of address abroad.

Hi!

I went to Barclays, as that is where I bank myself, and they said that they need to be able to prove her ID (passport is fine) and her address. As she has been in the UK for less that 3 months, and has no utility bills/driving licence in the UK, their policy is that they will accept a proof of her 'home' address. The EHIC thing seems to be a practice rule, as it is on their own form rather than the standard NHS form...

EHIC card is the same all over europe, it's europian health insurance card after all.
but i have never heard of anyone, including myself, needing it for registering with a british GP. plus in my country if you go abroad for more than six months you can withdraw from the health insurance system and if you do, you need to give the card back.

My APs have always taken their passports to the GP to register, but never an EHIC.

An EHIC card guarantees reciprical healthcare for visitors travelling within the EU. An au pair (EU or non-EU) is a UK resident not a visitor and therefore entitled to access to the NHS (though I think the rules about hospital stays might be a bit more complicated).

agree with you on that one, diom. i spent hours on the net researching info on british health care but still not completely sure on the hospitals either.
the dept of health website even says something like if you are a british citizen and stayed three months abroad you might need to pay for hospital care which i find odd.

The three month rule was aimed at elderly Spanish ex-pats who live and pay taxes in Spain but then travel to the UK for hospital treatment and then go back to Spain.