EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/306) (“the principal Regulations”), which provide for the making and recovery of charges for relevant services provided under the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (c. 42) to overseas visitors.
Regulation 2 amends the principal Regulations to insert “Monkeypox” into Schedule 1 (diseases for the treatment of which no charge is to be made). Regulation 2(2)(b) provides that charges incurred in respect of services provided to an overseas visitor for the treatment of monkeypox on or after 23 May 2022 but before these Regulations came into force—
if not yet made, must not be made,
if made, must not be recovered, or
if paid, must be repaid.
There has been no regulatory impact assessment in relation to these Regulations due to the need to put them in place urgently to respond to the current outbreak of monkeypox in the United Kingdom.