§ Mr. Rhodes Jamesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will arrange for the period of validity of E111 certificates to be extended.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 20 March 1984, c. 425Yes. The E111 is a certificate of entitlement to urgent medical treatment during a temporary stay in another member state of the European Community. It is available from local offices of my Department to nationals of the Community who are ordinarily resident here. Our normal practice has been to issue each E111 for one visit only, with the possibility of a one-year certificate for regular visitors to other member states.
We have reviewed arrangements for E111 s and concluded that they are unduly restrictive. From 1 September 1984, we shall issue nearly all E111s for a period of two years from the date of issue. This will cut down paperwork for regular travellers and contain the Department's administrative costs. Full information for the public about the change will be in a revised version of leaflet SA30 published in the autumn.