Claiming Travel & Subsistence Expenses
Travel and Subsistence (updated August 2022)
You are entitled to claim back reasonable costs for travel for gender reassignment surgery (GRS) in England, and under certain circumstances, you may be entitled to claim back costs for visits to gender identity clinics (GIC).
Please always contact your own NHS Board in the first instance when claiming travel and subsistence, as arrangements do vary from NHS Board to NHS Board. In some areas the gender clinic or NHS Board office may wish book your travel for you in you are going to England for GRS.
For all patients referred for gender reassignment surgery in England by Sandyford – Patients book their own travel and they can send Sandyford the receipts for their travel to be reimbursed.
For patients referred for gender reassignment surgery in England by the Grampian Gender Clinic – your travel may be booked for you via the patient travel office at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), please speak to your gender clinic and the travel office for more details.
Patients travelling to GIC appointments may also, if eligible, claim travel costs back from their local NHS Board.
In general, patients can claim for reasonable expenses for attendance at hospital under two or three main schemes, all of which are based upon the guidance contained within the Scottish Government advice to NHS Boards NHS MEL(1996)70 (https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/1996_70.pdf)
Details of Scottish Government’s help with health costs can be found here: https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0039/00392657.pdf
Details of the UK-wide travel scheme are here: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs/
How you make your claim will depend on your income and on local arrangements; there are a variety of schemes to support for those on benefits and low incomes. Not all Boards describe the schemes by the same names, however, the contact people named below for each board can advise you how to make a claim.
For people on low income or benefits, there is a UK wide agreement to help with travel costs, sometimes called ‘Scheme 1’, or ‘the Non – Discretionary Statutory Scheme’. This scheme is a means tested scheme. It applies to patients attending hospitals across the UK. Patients will, if they are eligible, be able to reclaim travel costs direct from the hospital attended.
For people who are not on benefits and who do not met the low income criteria, you may be able to claim via what is often called ‘Scheme 3’, ‘Ex gratia’ or ‘ the Discretionary Scheme’. This is for people who are undertaking/receiving planned treatment and care within an NHS facility in the UK, who need to travel outwith their own Board to receive this treatment and care, and who do not qualify for reimbursement of travel costs under the means-tested patients travel expenses scheme. This is, however, a discretionary scheme and Scottish Health Boards are not obliged to implement payment under these circumstances. Your local contact (below), will be able to advise if your NHS Board will reimburse your costs, and this will often be on a case by case basis from your local NHS board office.
For people who live in the Highlands or Islands, there is a Highlands and Islands Scheme (which may be called ‘Scheme 2’), by which patients can claim their travel expenses. Patients who are resident in the Highlands and Islands may be required to travel some distance to attend hospital appointments given the geography of the area. Under this scheme all patients from the former Highlands and Islands Development Board areas are entitled to financial assistance with their travel costs if they live more than 30 miles from the hospital they are attending or require to travel more than 5 miles over sea. Claiming is via your local NHS Board office.
A list of local contacts that can help can be accessed here.