Charging of EU citizens for NHS care lawful

10/03/26

The Administrative Court has today handed down judgment in the case of R (BHO) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care & Ors [2026] EWHC 517 (Admin). The judgment finds that it is lawful for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to charge EU citizens, who have failed to regularise their immigration status in the UK post-Brexit, for NHS treatment.

The claim concerned the position of so-called ‘Late Beneficiaries’ under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement: i.e. individuals who successfully applied for either pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme but did so late, after the expiry of the deadline for applications and 6 month grace period. The specific question that arose for determination by the Court was whether the Withdrawal Agreement requires that such individuals should be treated as though they were lawfully resident in the period between the end of the grace period and the making of their successful application.

In her judgment of 10 March 2026, Mrs Justice Heather Williams found that nothing in the Withdrawal Agreement does require such an outcome. In particular, the Court held that:

1. In circumstances where the UK was entitled to, and did, implement a constitutive scheme in order to regularise the position of EU citizens living in the UK post-Brexit, and bearing in mind the structure and wording of the Withdrawal Agreement, the grant of status to Late Beneficiaries does not have retrospective or ex tunc effect; and
2. The difference in treatment that the NHS charging regime gives rise to as between EU and UK citizens is capable of objective justification by reference to the need to protect the integrity of the UK’s constitutive scheme.

The judgment can be found here.