The Healthcare System in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas): Public Hospital, Fees, Emergencies and Evacuations

Care is delivered by the Falkland Islands Government’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). Its director signs the fee notice made under section 44 of the Public Health Ordinance 1894. The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH), in Stanley, is “the only hospital in the territory” according to the government: it brings together primary care, inpatient care, surgery, maternity, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, audiology, a laboratory and an emotional wellbeing service. The social action service comes under the same department. The sources read describe neither a health insurance fund nor a dedicated contribution: the patient is either exempt from fees or liable for the published charges.

The World Bank publishes no data for the territory (its API does not recognise the country), and no health spending as a percentage of GDP or official life expectancy was read: these indicators are therefore not given. The FCDO describes a modern hospital in Stanley, with medical and dental staff, with limited cover outside the capital.

The fee notice in force of the Falkland Islands Gazette exempts from care fees ordinarily resident people who are “Falkland Islanders”, who have a permanent residence permit, a dependant permit or a carer permit, who have been given permission to enter as a refugee or as a diplomat, British public official or member of the armed forces (with their dependants), or who hold a work permit or an accompanying dependant permit where certain provisions of the Public Health Ordinance do not apply. For dental care, the exemption covers residents under 19 in full-time education, those aged 65 or over and recipients of income support or attendance allowance. The Governor in Council may waive all or part of the fees, generally in cases of real hardship.

All other patients pay: visitors, volunteers, short-term workers. The holder of a visitor permit, a volunteer permit or a work permit of nine months or less must hold health insurance and present the details of their contract, or other proof of ability to pay, before care. UK residents do not pay for what they would receive free from the National Health Service, under a reciprocal agreement that excludes medical evacuation, but this exemption requires proof of British residence: a French national who is not resident in the United Kingdom is not entitled to it, and the European Health Insurance Card cannot be used. See the page healthcare reimbursement in the Falkland Islands.

Six general practitioners (five full-time, one part-time) work at the hospital; appointments are made through the switchboard (+500 28000), with consultations on weekdays in the morning and afternoon. A practice nurse, a primary care assistant and an advanced nurse practitioner run consultations for chronic diseases, women’s health, check-ups and minor ailments. In the “Camp”, patients have a medicine kit, telephone consultations and a flying doctor service operated with the government air service.

The hospital has 24 beds (18 acute care beds, a maternity bed, an isolation unit and intensive care) and an operating theatre with an anaesthetic room. A resident general surgeon and anaesthetist are available at all times; consultants from the British NHS or South America visit for cardiology, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, obstetrics-gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, psychiatry, rheumatology and urology, for non-urgent consultations and procedures. The hospital has three dental surgeries: residents and people on long-term contracts receive routine care, while visitors and short-term contracts are generally limited to dental emergencies. The FCDO specifies that there is no qualified resident optician.

For pregnancy, care combines general practitioners, sonographers and midwives. Women with a high-risk pregnancy are asked to receive their care in the United Kingdom by 35 weeks of gestation at the latest, and the overseas care policy provides for a funded escort for eligible resident women; it also warns that obtaining a passport for a newborn who is not entitled to a British passport can take a long time.

For a life-threatening emergency, dial 999. The KEMH accident and emergency department is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday; outside these hours, emergencies and ambulance calls go through the on-call nurse (+500 28052). The hospital has two designated intensive care beds. The other published numbers are +500 28000 (switchboard), +500 28029 (dental appointments), +500 28065 (pharmacy) and +500 28066 (pharmacist). The FCDO indicates that emergency response may be delayed outside Stanley, and that the traveller must contact their insurer as soon as they are referred to a care facility.

Cases beyond the territory’s means come under the overseas care policy (Medical Treatment Overseas). In an emergency, the patient is normally referred to a South American hospital, most often in Chile or Uruguay, where resident doctors can arrange an aeromedical evacuation; planned care normally comes under the British NHS. This public cover is reserved for eligible ordinary residents: local status, permanent residence permit, dependant permit, carer permit, work permit and accompanying dependant permit under the same conditions as for the fee exemption. It excludes people exempt only under the reciprocal agreement with the United Kingdom. For a person who is not eligible and needs an emergency aeromedical evacuation, the hospital can help with the arrangements, but the cost remains the responsibility of the patient or their insurer. See repatriation and assistance.

Even for an eligible patient, long-term support is capped: three years for holders of local status, a permanent residence permit or a dependant permit, nine months for holders of a work permit or an accompanying dependant permit, with support ending if the permit expires. The patient remains responsible for their passports and visas for the country of care, and the policy recommends travel insurance.

The KEMH pharmacy is the only one in the territory. It is open Monday to Friday, with a break at midday (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.), dispenses most prescription products and sells a limited choice of over-the-counter medicines. Prescriptions are free for residents of the territory and the United Kingdom; for a non-exempt patient, the fee notice charges medicines at cost price plus 37.5%, with a minimum of £30 (about €36). Camp patients receive their medicines by post, including refills of kits. The rules for importing personal medicines were not read on the pages consulted: the traveller takes their treatments in their original packaging, with the prescription, and checks with the customs service before departure.

France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) publishes no health page for the territory; its United Kingdom health page reminds readers that the Consulate General in London is responsible for the Malvinas Islands and recommends checking that your insurance covers medical costs and repatriation, as the embassy cannot cover them. The FCDO invites people to consult TravelHealthPro at least eight weeks before departure and cites insect and tick bites among the health risks. The practical risks mainly relate to isolation, a changeable climate, the sun, driving on partly unpaved roads and ordnance left on the old battlefields.

The hospital offers travel vaccines and antimalarial treatments at cost price plus 37.5% (consultation of £143.80 for under 15 minutes, or about €171). No vaccination recommendation specific to the territory was read on the French sources; medical advice before departure, from a doctor or an international vaccination centre, remains the recommended route. To compare cover, the guide expat health insurance gives benchmarks, and the page living in the Falkland Islands describes daily life.