NHS trusts to be forced to make overseas patients pay upfront for non-urgent care

Jeremy Hunt announces plan to tackle 'health tourism' – despite it only making up 0.3 per cent of the annual NHS budget

Jeremy Hunt says the money recouped from overseas patients can be put back into patient care (Getty)

NHS trusts may be forced to make overseas patients pay upfront for non-urgent care under a new proposal announced by Jeremy Hunt.

The Health Secretary is due to announce the move which will require healthcare professionals to establish whether people flying to the UK for non-urgent treatment such as a hip operation or cataract removal are eligible for help and make sure they are able to pay before their treatment begins.

The new rules mean patients must be told upfront they have to pay but can decide not to have the procedure if they cannot pay.

The measurement is the latest proposal destined to cut down on so-called “health tourism”.

Many politicians and newspaper headlines emphasis the rough estimate of between £100 to £300m spent every year on people coming to the UK specifically to seek treatment on the NHS – but this accounts for just 0.3 per cent of the total NHS budget.

In October it was revealed the Government was on track to meet its target of recouping £500m in costs from overseas patients between 2017-18 and has revised the figure down to £346m.

It is currently unclear whether this means they have written off expenses incurred by people unable to pay or that the £500m figure was more than the sum actually owed.

In 2015-16 it charged £289m to overseas patients but it is not known how much of these was paid, FullFact reported.

While is unclear how many patients come to English hospitals for planned, non-urgent care, the Government hopes that forcing hospitals to have discussions with patients upfront will change a culture where people are invoiced after their care has already begun.

Patients needing urgent or emergency care will still receive treatment without needing to pay upfront.

It comes after a BBC documentary, Hospital, documented overseas patients being unable to pay their medical bills after receiving NHS care.

One Nigerian mother, Priscilla, who gave birth to quadruplets, two of whom died, now owes the NHS nearly £500,000 after she was taken ill on her flight home to Nigeria and transferred to St Mary’s A&E in Paddington.

She had been due to give birth to her babies in the US, where she has family, but had been turned away for not having the right paperwork and went into labour while waiting for her transfer flight at Heathrow.

Under the plans overseas visitors must be told they must pay before treatment begins(Getty Images) (Getty)

She was three months away from her due date.

One baby died at birth and the surviving three were placed in intensive care. Another baby later died but two remain in the ICU which costs £20,000 a week per child.

Priscilla has since been released from hospital after six weeks and is currently being cared for by a charity as she has no family in the UK.

But under Mr Hunt’s proposals she would still have received urgent treatment as her life and those of her babies were at risk.

Mr Hunt said: "We have no problem with overseas visitors using our NHS – as long as they make a fair contribution, just as the British taxpayer does.

"So today we are announcing plans to change the law which means those who aren't eligible for free care will be asked to pay upfront for non-urgent treatment.

"We aim to recover up to £500m a year by the middle of this Parliament – money that can then be reinvested in patient care."

It will be up to individual NHS trusts to work out whether they take a payment there and then – or allow patients to sign a form to agree to a longer-term payment plan.

Some trusts will check eligibility through asking people to produce two forms of identification – such as a passport and a utility bill with a UK address. It will be up to individual trusts to work out how best to check eligibility.

Additional reporting by PA