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A&E departments “to charge migrants for healthcare” (30 December 2013)

Date: 30/12/2013
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, A&E departments “to charge migrants for healthcare”

The Department of Health has announced migrants who seek healthcare in A&E departments in England and Wales will be charged between £20 and £100 for a consultation, in a bid to slash the £2 billion NHS bill racked up by “health tourists” to the UK.

NHS staff will be expected to charge for any treatments migrants receive under the NHS, and staff may even be issued with chip and pin terminals so they can take payments from patients, the Mail online reports.

Some NHS trusts have appointed dedicated managers to trace overseas patients who fail to pay for their treatment – and also establish the eligibility of overseas patients to NHS treatment or their ability to pay before any treatment is given.

The NHS has always been free at point-of-use for those who need healthcare, but in recent years NHS services have reported an increase in overseas patients using A&E departments and services such as maternity units.

However, the changes in out-of-hours care in GP surgeries has also had a knock-on effect on the demand for A&E services across England and Wales, with some patients unable to get a GP appointment resorting to A&E departments instead for minor injuries or illnesses such as sore throats or coughs.

A&E units also say older patients have increasingly turned to their local emergency departments for healthcare – and management of chronic conditions such as asthma or arthritis if they are unable to obtain a GP appointment quickly.

Recent research has shown that some patients in Britain are waiting a week or more before being able to see their GP.

Ministers have ruled out prohibiting migrants from seeing GPs, however, as this could impact on public health. Migrants from war zones could, for example, be carrying infectious or antibiotic-resistant diseases like tuberculosis (TB) if they have been living in poor conditions while fleeing violence in their home countries. Refugees unable to prove their country of origin might be denied vital treatment as a result, some experts fear.

Recent figures show, however, that some patients from overseas head for the UK with the intention of seeking free healthcare on the NHS – Gatwick airport has revealed that over a two-year period, 300 pregnant women were stopped by Border Agency officials after it was found the women had travelled to the UK specifically to have their babies delivered free on the NHS. Maternity units across England and Wales are currently under pressure because of the rising birth rate and a shortage of NHS midwives.

The Department of Health is expected to publish details of how the scheme for charging migrants for NHS treatment would work in the spring – and what the charges will be.

However, senior doctors say that the plan may lead to confusion among both staff and patients about who is eligible for NHS treatment – and how payments for treatment will be collected.

Dr Mark Porter of the British Medical Association told the Mail online:

“There remains a real risk that some migrants and short-term visitors who desperately need care could be discouraged from approaching the NHS if they cannot pay the proposed charges.”

Currently around 16% of the money spent on healthcare for migrants who are not eligible for treatment under the NHS is recovered.

Ministers are also planning to charge newcomers to the UK a £200 tax in case they use NHS services during their stay.

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