Foreign patients using British hospitals owe NHS £27million in unpaid bills

RAMPANT health tourism has left the NHS with a huge hike in unpaid hospital bills, official figures reveal.

Trusts had to write off £27 million last year after ineligible overseas patients refused to pay up.

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The figure is up two-thirds from £16.2 million in 2016/17.

The rise in unpaid debt comes despite a Government crackdown on foreign visitors using the health service for free.

Overall, the NHS has been left with a financial blackhole of £76 million in the past four years – enough to pay for around 3,300 new nurses.

However, the figure is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, as it only represents cases where the NHS issued a bill.

In many cases, hospital officials fail to check if a patient is eligible or have not issued an invoice.Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. Ministers need to do more to discourage ineligible people from abusing the NHS.

“We are seen as a soft touch. We cannot afford to treat the world, with the NHS already overrun.”

Non-EU residents, such as workers and students, staying long-term must now pay up to £400 a year to access the NHS

Rules came into force in 2017 requiring trusts to charge overseas visitors upfront for non-urgent care.

Staff must now ask patients where they have lived the past six months to identify if they are “ordinarily resident” in the UK and entitled to free NHS hospital treatment.

Visiting EU nationals are covered by the European Health Insurance Card.

Non-EU residents, such as workers and students, staying long-term must now pay up to £400 a year to access the NHS as part of their visa application.

Any illegal or short-term visitors from outside Europe must pay for hospital treatment or have valid health insurance.

Ineligible overseas patients cost the health service up to £2 billion a year

Maternity and other emergency treatment cannot be charged upfront, and GP care remains free for all.

Last month, a Sun investigation revealed more than ten ineligible women a day gave birth on English wards last year.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “No matter how many times this issue is raised, the bill always seems to go up. When Brits go on holidays and do themselves a mischief, they often have to cough up at A&E, so why should our NHS be any different?

“When we are pouring extra billions of taxpayers’ cash into the NHS, it’s vital that it’s spent on priorities like new tech, cancer drugs and reduced waiting times.”

Ineligible overseas patients cost the health service up to £2 billion a year, according to Government estimates.

Thanks to the 2017 crackdown, officials have more than quadrupled the cash recovered since 2012/13 – from £89million to £391million last year.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Every hard-working taxpayer plays a part in supporting our beloved NHS, so it is only right that overseas visitors also make a contribution to the health service.

“NHS Trusts have an obligation to charge overseas visitors unless they have an exemption and we’ve made good progress in the last few years, with more than £1billion recovered to be reinvested back into frontline services.”

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