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Written question asked by Lord Brabazon of Tara (Conservative) on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 29 January 2019. It was answered by Baroness Manzoor (Conservative) on Tuesday, 29 January 2019 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that European Health Insurance Card application forms on the official NHS or gov.uk websites appear at the top of internet search engines rather than those websites charging a fee.

Answer

The Department is aware of a problem with third-party websites presenting themselves as legitimate providers of Government services. The Government has taken robust steps to tackle misleading websites, routinely monitoring unofficial sites and reporting any cases of specious advertisements to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and National Trading Standards (NTS). This helps to ensure that only official European Health Insurance Card application websites appear at the top of Internet search results.

The Government has also set up a webpage to enable members of the public to report misleading websites and lodge a complaint with Google and other search engine providers. Such customer insight forms an important aspect of representations made by Government authorities to the ASA and NTS in the continued effort to tackle misleading websites.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL12825
Session
2017-19
Subjects
EU countries Health services Fees and charges Internet Reciprocal arrangements
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk