Hospitals to demand passports to clamp down on health tourism

Hospitals must check foreigners' passports before treating them, as new guidelines are issued to crack down on health tourism.

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by Ellie Hooper |
Published on

It has emerged that ‘health tourists’ are costing the taxpayer £2 billion a year, with many people travelling to the UK to take advantage of the NHS.

But now, with new legislation, hospitals will be liable to fines if they treat foreigners who are not entitled to free healthcare.

Patients being admitted to A&E will be treated, though once stabilised will be chased for payment

Patients will now be required to provide their passport number and expiry date to hospitals, although emergency cases and women who are about to give birth will not have to provide this - regardless of where they are from.

‘From April 2015, the Secretary of State for Health is for the first time exercising the power under the National Health Service Act 2006 to calculate charges for overseas visitors on a commercial basis, which may include a reasonable profit element,’ reads the guidance.

Non EU citizens settling in the UK will also be required to pay a ‘health surcharge’ as part of their visa applications, though some nationalities will be exempt from these charges - such as Australian and New Zealand nationals.

‘Non-UK nationals seeking medical attention should pay for their treatment’ said Tory MP Andrew Bridgen.

‘The NHS is funded by UK taxpayers for UK citizens and if any of us went to any of these countries we’d certainly be paying if we needed to be treated.

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