I need advice on entitlement to health & social care for parents who worked in the UK but have retired to the Republic of Ireland

[Belleende]

Hello all. I am looking for some pointers for getting advice. My parents lived all their working lives in northern ireland. About 10 years ago they retired to rural north west ireland, in the republic of ireland. Now their health needs are increasing. My mum has an eye condition and my dad has a history of cardiac problems that are getting worse. He has been hospitalised by ambulance recently.

Getting treatment in the Republic often involves travelling for 3 hours plus, but the nearest large town with the needed facilities is only 45 mins away, but is in northern ireland. Does anyone know if my parents are entitled to access the nhs in the north or where I could go to find this out?

AFAIK they are only eligible for NHS care if they are ordinarily resident in the UK. Which they are not .

There are certain exemptions for cross border workers. But it doesn't sound like either or your parents are working in Northern Ireland on a daily basis.

If they become ill while visiting the UK, they can get certain types of emergency care free , as EU residents . But it sounds as if you are talking about routine care .

Are you wondering if you can get the Irish authorities to pay for care in the UK for your parents ? If so , you'd need to ask the relevant agency in Ireland .

There is quite a lot of info on this on the Internet.,I had to look it up myself the last time I was in the UK as we had a bit of emergency.

As far as I know can use the nhs if it's an emergency, like an accident, or if you have moved back and intend to stay.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/healthcare/help-with-health-costs/nhs-charges-for-people-from-abroad/#h-nhs-charges-and-people-from-abroad

That's what I read too . So if your parents are taken ill while visiting the Uk, , they can get emergency treatment .

But they can't live in one country and use the free health care of another because its better / more convenient .

Access to health care is a thing people usually think about before retiriing to another country , or to a rural area . Perhaps you need to discuss this with them. Do they need to move back to the UK ? Do they need to take out private healthcare insurance ?

That's what I read too.

So they can't live in one country and use the free health care of another country simply because they think it's better or more convenient .

Cheers all. I has heard about some loop hole. There is one, but only if you have residences north and south which they don't have

I think this may be more complicated than it first appears. There is some cross border funding available so that eg Donegal patients can be treated in Altnagelvin rather than Dublin for some cancer treatments.