Moved by
Baroness Thornton
20: After Clause 3, insert the following new Clause—
“Duty to provide information about changes to reciprocal healthcare arrangements
(1) As soon as this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must prepare guidance to assist—
(a) British citizens; and
(b) EEA and Swiss citizens living in the United Kingdom;
in understanding the effect of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on reciprocal access to healthcare, and publish the information on a website.
(2) The Secretary of State must take all reasonable steps to provide a copy of the information to any bodies appearing to the Secretary of State to represent the interests of those who may be significantly affected by changes to reciprocal healthcare arrangements including—
(a) NHS Trusts;
(b) the Royal College of General Practitioners;
(c) British embassies in the European Union; and
(d) other bodies the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(3) The information must include—
(a) the date on which current reciprocal healthcare arrangements end;
(b) the date on which any new agreement is expected to come into effect;
(c) information about where people can access help and advice about healthcare costs; and
(d) any other information that the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(4) In making arrangements for the purposes of providing information under this section the Secretary of State must—
(a) have regard to the needs and characteristics, in respect of the provision of information, of persons to whom the information is to be provided; and
(b) consider whether, having regard to those needs and characteristics, it is appropriate to provide any of the information to any of those persons otherwise than in the way in which it would normally be provided.”