People visiting the Isle of Man this year to enjoy the Manx Grand Prix are being reminded to ensure they have adequate travel and health insurance in place prior to setting off, in the event they may need it whilst on-Island.
In the majority of cases, UK visitors who require healthcare support during their stay – including urgent or emergency care – will be covered for most (if not all) costs they incur under the reciprocal healthcare agreement* in place between the Isle of Man and the UK. However, visitors who travel to the Island from countries outside of the UK are unlikely to be covered by a reciprocal health agreement, and therefore only Ambulance services, treatment in the Emergency Department (ED) or in the Minor Injuries and Illnesses Unit (MIU) at Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital will be provided free of charge, other than statutory charges such as prescription charges usually paid by Isle of Man residents.
All other services, including admission into hospital following treatment in the emergency department, medicines and diagnostic tests (with limited exceptions, for example treatment for infectious diseases such as Covid-19) must be paid for. If admitted to hospital on the Island, all overseas visitors will be expected to provide insurance details or pay for any medical charges prior to their discharge.
Oliver Radford, Executive Director of Health Services, commented:
'Please be reassured that immediately necessary and urgent treatment – for example for someone involved in a road accident or who suffers a medical episode – will always be provided to anyone who needs it. Insurance queries will never delay or prevent necessary or urgent treatment being given. However, we urge you to ensure that you do have your own appropriate level of travel insurance in place before visiting the Isle of Man. For UK visitors, the reciprocal healthcare agreement does not cover all eventualities, such as repatriation back to the UK which could be very costly and even more costly if you have no travel insurance in place at all.
'We’re also reminding people to make sure they’ve packed enough prescription medication and any other forms of medicine, tablets or equipment with them before leaving home. We want all visitors to enjoy a safe, healthy and worry-free Manx Grand Prix.'
Manx Care’s signposting guide highlights all of the available health and care options to people visiting the Isle of Man, and points them to the most appropriate service to meet their needs. It is available in multiple languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish, and can be accessed by visiting the Manx Care page or the Signposting page. This includes the Emergency Department at Noble’s Hospital, MEDS (the Manx Emergency Doctor Service, also based at Noble’s), the Minor Injuries and Illnesses Unit at Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital (based in the North), access to GP services, support for persistent low mood and anxiety, Community Pharmacy provision, and emergency dental or optical care.
UK residents may register as a temporary resident with an Isle of Man-based GP if their visit to the Island is for more than 24 hours but less than three months. Details of how to do this can be found at the Doctors page. Visitors from outside the UK may register with a GP practice as a private patient and will be expected to pay for any consultation, treatment or prescription at the time of the visit.
Manx Care will be posting frequent ‘signposting’ information on its social media channels (@ManxCare) throughout the MGP to support both Manx residents and visitors to the Island.
* The reciprocal healthcare agreement is restricted to visits of less than six months’ duration. It does not, in all circumstances, include medical repatriation back to the UK, including for people who live in a country where a reciprocal health agreement is in place. For further information on this, please visit the Access to medical services for visitors to the Isle of Man page.
