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Epidemic of health tourists 'costs us billions': Thousands fly to UK for treatment and leave without paying... and NHS is powerless to act

Leading health surgeon described the NHS as the 'world's maternity wing'
Thousands also travel to the UK for cancer, HIV and infertility treatment
Professor J Meirion Thomas cites a string of cases in a stinging article
He concludes there is widespread abuse of the NHS by ineligible patients

By Daniel Martin

PUBLISHED: 23:04, 3 April 2013 | UPDATED: 07:34, 4 April 2013

Foreigners travelling to Britain to exploit the NHS is costing us billions every year

Foreigners travelling to Britain to exploit the NHS is costing us billions every year

The �massive and escalating problem� of foreigners travelling to Britain to exploit the NHS is costing us billions every year, a senior doctor has warned.

In a dramatic expose of the extent of health tourism, a leading surgeon said the cash-strapped Health Service is becoming the �world�s maternity wing� as expectant mothers arrive just to give birth.

Thousands of others are flying here for cancer, HIV, kidney and infertility treatment � and then leaving without paying, according to cancer specialist J Meirion Thomas.

Some are so ill that they are pushed straight back on to planes in their wheelchairs after being treated for free at hospitals close to airports.

Many arrive specifically to give birth, then argue that they should not be charged because it counts as emergency care.

Some are committing identity fraud, but the NHS is powerless to act.

And this �serial abuse� could be costing taxpayers billions every year, he warned � far above previous estimates.

In a stinging article, Professor Thomas, consultant surgeon at The Royal Marsden hospital in London, cites a string of cases from across the NHS to conclude: �It all adds up to clear, widespread abuse of our NHS by ineligible patients.�

But he warned that the NHS may be �addled with too many loopholes� to address the problem and could have �reached the point of no return�.

Last month David Cameron pledged a crackdown on health tourism, saying he wanted to tighten eligibility to free care and do more to ensure the NHS recoups the money it is owed.

The Prime Minister faced criticism when he was unable to put a figure on the extent of the abuse, citing old statistics showing it could be up to �20million a year.

In the Spectator magazine, Professor Thomas welcomed Mr Cameron�s pledge, but said he had been �overwhelmed� by letters informing him of the true scale of the problem since writing a piece in the same magazine three weeks ago highlighting how easily foreigners can abuse the NHS.
Abuse of the NHS: Thousands of foreigners fly to the UK for treatment according to cancer specialist Professor Thomas

Abuse of the NHS: Thousands of foreigners fly to the UK for treatment according to cancer specialist Professor Thomas

He quoted one from a junior hospital doctor working close to Heathrow airport. �Every single week, I see people who have been flown in from all over the world with a variety of extremely serious health problems,� the letter said.

�Many of these people had to be wheelchaired on to the plane because they were too unwell to walk on board.

�We often have our Intensive Therapy Unit full of patients without NHS numbers who are there for weeks or months with no means or intention to pay, which impacts on our resources.�

Professor Thomas said the most �revealing and scandalous� reports come from overseas visitor officers, who are employed by hospitals to identify and recover costs from those not entitled to free care.

�I have now been contacted by more than a dozen OVOs, desperate to be heard, who have given me scores of cases of abuse covering every aspect of NHS activity,� he said. �Some, fearing reprisal from senior managers, have spoken to me on condition of anonymity.
Crackdown: David Cameron has pledged to tighten eligibility to free care

Crackdown: David Cameron has pledged to tighten eligibility to free care

�This abuse may be costing the NHS (and therefore the British taxpayer) not millions but billions of pounds every year. The mystery for those of us working in the NHS is how the Department of Health and 40,000 or so hospital managers have allowed this to happen.�

The doctor said maternity health tourism was a �massive and escalating problem�, adding: �Often the patient refuses to pay, claiming that a childbirth qualifies as emergency care and therefore cannot be refused to anyone. In this way, the NHS can be used as the world�s maternity wing.�

This only adds to the pressure on wards, where birth rates in recent years have consistently proved higher than predicted and a midwife shortage means some have to close their doors because they are at capacity.

Professor Thomas said there was also evidence of identity fraud, with blood tests taken in hospital revealing the woman has a different blood group to the one in the NHS records of the person they claim to be.

He said renal dialysis was �probably the most costly form of abuse� because the treatment needs to take place three times a week and may result in a kidney transplant.

Cancer patients often travel to the UK for treatment which they do not pay for, he said, adding: �The NHS does not have the resources for such largesse.�

Professor Thomas called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to hold a national audit on the extent of the problem.

The audit should be �manager-free�, he said, �because it is the mandarins and officials who have presided over the genesis and evolution of the current problem�.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the Government was determined to crack down on health tourism, adding: �The NHS should only be providing care to those entitled to its support, which is why we have announced plans to prevent unfair access and improve the NHS�s ability to charge for the full cost of treatment, where appropriate.�

This is a disgrace, 40,000 managers in the NHS and not one is looking to see if the people are Brits or not, this is simple to stop, no insurance no treatment and dont give me the bit about they might die so we have to, would you get treatment in a foreign country without insurance, NO .
They kill old people in our hospitals for money yet they cure foreigners for nothing----------------

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

I'm glad these abuses of the NHS have been flagged up.
I wrote to my MP about this last year and I was sent a letter from the health minister promising something would be done. In fact I heard that GP's had been told to register all sick foreigners.
I know doctors are furious at the abuses they see. Deliberate and calculating health tourists.
The country cannot afford free medicine for the world. Systems must be tightened up.
These abuses do not happen in other countries. No one would dare visit America without proper insurance. Foreigners who are not entitled to NHS treatement should pay up or go. This must be enforced.