News.Life

Hospitals Write Off Over £250 Million in Unpaid Bills From Foreign Patients

DIWIDA.NEWS healthcare and medicine, hospitals, medical and healthcare costs, medicine and healthcare, national health service

Hospitals struggling with finances have waived £256.4 million owed by international patients due to inadequate verification processes for their entitlements to free treatment.
 NHS
 treatment.


 A probe conducted by The Mail on Sunday reveals rising debts incurred by health tourists – individuals who have received treatments ranging from spinal surgeries to cardiac care.
 cancer
 The treatment -- is exacerbating the financial strain within the NHS.


 Last year witnessed a loss of £44 million—a 63 percent rise from the £26.9 million written off by hospitals in 2017-18.


 Our investigation, which encompasses a thorough examination of healthcare financial records spanning the last seven years as well as comprehensive Freedom of Information requests sent to various trusts throughout England, uncovers some critical insights;

<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Only a third of the £621 million debt from hospital visits by foreign tourists has been recovered.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 A Nigerian patient who was scheduled for treatment at Barts Health NHS Trust in London incurred an expense of almost £500,000, whereas a Romanian patient owes Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in South London £71,000.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Over 400 international patients received elective care last year at the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust in East London, leaving 285 bills unpaid totaling £1.3 million collectively.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 In just nine years, the number of medical tourists utilizing the NHS for scheduled treatments has increased twofold, exacerbating the mounting backlogs for patients who fund public services through their taxes.
 </li>
</ul>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmUm2" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmUm2.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmFRK" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmFRK.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmPiz" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmPiz.jpg"/>

 Yesterday evening, following the confrontation with the findings of the MoS's probe, the Health Secretary was
 Wes Streeting
 pledged he would take action to 'tidy up this mess.'


 Nevertheless, these numbers may just scratch the surface since they only encompass patients who were flagged for payment issues—prompting concerns that an additional substantial sum, running into millions of pounds, might not be accounted for.


 Conservative Party Member of Parliament Joe Robertson, who serves on the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, stated: "The UK should not function as a healthcare provider for the entire globe. The National Health Service administration must collect payment from these individuals prior to providing any scheduled treatments. This ensures that those who might try to avoid payment cannot flee without settling their bills."


 The NHS cannot justify asking for additional funds when they write off millions of pounds in debts owed by foreigners for elective, non-urgent procedures.


 If a visitor encounters an accident during their holiday in the UK, it is reasonable for them to get emergency medical treatment; however, the NHS appears to offer scheduled, non-urgent procedures to individuals from abroad who do not settle their bills.


 If NHS managers do not take control, then the Health Secretary must step in and compel them to act. It would be pointless to abolish NHS England and bring healthcare directly under government oversight if Wes Streeting does not put an end to such blatant mismanagement.


 Over the last couple of years, the Government has had to bolster the NHS’s funding by an additional £21 billion, yet hospital waitlists continue to soar to unprecedented levels, with only 59 percent of patients getting treated within the targeted 18 weeks.


 The £256.4 million forgiven could have financed salaries for 8,500 new nurses or almost 3,000 general practitioners. Alternatively, this amount could offset the expenses required to treat 27,000 breast cancer patients or support 15,000 kidney transplant procedures.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmMU1" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmMU1.jpg"/>

 The reality that numerous medical bills from overseas patients cover treatments which were ‘elective’—planned ahead of time—has fueled further outrage.


 Although GP services and emergency care are provided free of charge to everyone irrespective of their residential status, hospitals are meant to recognize chargeable patients and invoice them beforehand—charging 150 percent of what the NHS charges—prior to offering additional treatments like specialist consultations and scheduled procedures.


 However, the statistics show that overburdened hospitals frequently cannot manage this promptly and end up sending bills to patients afterward—permitting them to depart the country without making payment.


 This contrasts with health systems in France, Ireland, the US and Australia, where payment is required upfront.


 Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, termed it as 'preposterous' that merely a small portion of the expenses incurred by foreign patients is being reclaimed.


 'Wes Streeting needs to encourage trusts to cease depending solely on taxpayers for funding non-urgent care provided to individuals who aren’t eligible,' he stated.


 The founding fathers of the National Health Service, such as Nye Bevan, would be appalled to discover it has transformed into an International Health Service.


 Over the last seven years, the NHS has charged international patients £621 million. Only around £233 million, which is roughly one-third of this total, has been reimbursed so far. The sum being waived keeps increasing as patients cannot be located, have passed away, or due to hospitals deciding against chasing these debts.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmPiB" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmPiB.jpg"/>

 Despite this, in 2014, when there were worries that the NHS was being overly generous to international patients, the government committed to recovering as much as £500 million annually.


 John O'Connell from the TaxPayers' Alliance urged Members of Parliament to overhaul the system and 'show proper respect for citizens' hard-earned money.'


 He said: 'The fact that the health service is unable to even ensure those who are not entitled to free healthcare are paying what they owe is indicative of a culture that doesn't care about wasted money.'


 Every hospital must legally determine which patients do not qualify for free NHS treatment and recoup expenses; this responsibility is monitored by overseas visitor managers.


 It might include the use of the MESH system, an IT resource created by NHS England that checks a patient’s details against other databases, such as those maintained by the Home Office.


 International patients ought to be informed about the anticipated charges as well as payment procedures, and hospitals are required to undertake all feasible steps to reclaim costs prior to initiating treatment.


 However, for compassionate grounds, official guidelines assert that care deemed urgent by a physician must not be denied — even if the patient has stated they are unable to make payment.


 This is especially true in maternity wards, as denying care can adversely affect both mothers and infants.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmKvy" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmKvy.jpg"/>

 Here, an invoice gets generated first, followed by attempts to recoup the expenses subsequently. This process might include setting up repayment schedules.


 Hospitals may resort to international debt collection agencies to recover these expenses; however, this approach is costly and does not ensure that the patient will agree or have the means to make payment, particularly if they cannot be located.


 A policy specialist commented, "In truth, hospitals frequently find it unprofitable because hiring adequate personnel to verify each patient’s status and follow up on payments after invoicing can be too costly. The efficiency varies among different trust organizations."


 These statistics encompass individuals who received initial attention at emergency departments before being transferred to wards, leading to additional charges. Some cases involve referrals from general practitioners for scheduled evaluations or treatments.


 Many hospitals struggled to distinguish between charges for planned and emergency treatments. However, several institutions, such as those in Barking, Havering, and Redbridge — where an outstanding debt of £1.3 million over one year encompasses a person from Ghana responsible for £18,000 related to joint procedures — managed to provide these details. The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust disclosed that they treated 531 international patients for scheduled services last year, with an uncollected sum of £22,000 owed for back operations.


 The Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has verified that 396 international patients underwent planned treatments in the previous year, leaving 194 unpaid bills totaling almost £300,000. In addition, a patient from Hungary was treated for both kidney and heart issues at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and still owes £23,000. Furthermore, numerous individuals from countries such as India and Cameroon have undergone cancer care but remain indebted by tens of thousands of pounds each.


 Data from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) indicate that international patients seem to be more frequently opting for elective treatments through the NHS.


 Although the figures for individuals seeking emergency care haven’t significantly altered, the number of people admitted for day procedures has nearly tripled over nine years, increasing from 3,885 to 8,585 between 2014 and 2022-23. However, this dropped to 6,205 in the previous year.


 Data from The Mail on Sunday indicates that Nigerians held the highest amount of outstanding debts, trailed closely by Romanians, Indians, Albanians, and U.S. citizens. According to Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, within just one year, 92 individuals from Nigeria accumulated debts totaling £238,553—approximately £2,600 per person. Additionally, they charged 76 Romanian nationals with a combined debt of £178,936 and billed 33 Albanian citizens an aggregate sum of £106,959.


 The Mail on Sunday sought insights from multiple major hospital trusts regarding the challenges of recognizing chargeable patients and recovering these expenses; however, none agreed to comment.


 The Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged that 'capacity' constraints led to approximately half of the patients identified by MESH as possibly eligible for charges being unable to undergo further assessment by their team. Out of over 8,000 individuals marked by MESH, around 5,130 were selected for additional scrutiny, with 982 ultimately receiving bills for their care. A number were excluded either because they possessed legitimate exemptions or upon determination that they weren’t subject to charges.


 The DHSC mentioned that they have recovered £4.4 billion from international patients since 2015-16. This sum encompasses all payments through the Immigration Health Surcharge, where individuals holding work or study visas pay an annual fee of £776 for access to the NHS, along with earnings from treating citizens of EEA nations.


 Mr Streeting stated yesterday evening, "Similar to how British citizens overseas must cover their medical expenses, individuals visiting this nation ought to do the same. Given that patients are experiencing unbearably lengthy waits for general practitioner visits, surgeries, or even emergency services, it is unjustifiable for the National Health Service to bear the cost of treatments that should be covered financially."


 We will take action to clear up this situation. While addressing the backlog issues, we will simultaneously tackle those taking undue advantage of British taxpayers’ funds.

Read more

Hospitals Write Off Over £250 Million in Unpaid Bills From Foreign Patients

Hospitals struggling with finances have waived £256.4 million owed by international patients due to inadequate verification processes for ...

Hospitals in UAE Write Off Over £250 Million in Unpaid Foreign Patient Bills

DIWIDA.NEWS healthcare and medicine, hospitals, medical and healthcare costs, medicine and healthcare, national health service

Hospitals with limited budgets have forgone £256.4 million owed by international patients due to inadequacies in verifying their eligibility for complimentary care.
 NHS
 treatment.


 A probe conducted by The Mail on Sunday reveals increasing financial burdens due to health tourists – individuals who have received treatments ranging from spinal surgeries to cardiac care.
 cancer
 The treatment -- is causing an increasing drain on NHS finances.


 Last year witnessed a loss of £44 million—a 63 percent rise from the £26.9 million written off by hospitals in 2017-18.


 The critical insights from our study, derived from examining healthcare financial records over the last seven years along with an extensive Freedom of Information act submission to various trusts throughout England, show that:

<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Only one-third of the £621 million debt owed by foreign visitors to hospitals has been returned.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 A Nigerian patient who was scheduled for treatment at Barts Health NHS Trust in London incurred an expense of almost £500,000, while a Romanian patient owes Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in South London £71,000.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Over 400 international patients received elective care last year at the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust located in East London. As a result, there are currently 285 unpaid bills amounting to approximately £1.3 million.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 In nine years, the number of individuals seeking healthcare as medical tourists through the NHS for scheduled treatments has increased twofold, contributing to lengthening queues for patients funded by taxes.
 </li>
</ul>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmPjr" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmPjr.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmFSh" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmFSh.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmI9h" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmI9h.jpg"/>

 Yesterday evening, following the confrontation with the findings of the MoS's investigation, the Health Secretary was addressed.
 Wes Streeting
 pledged he would take action to 'tidy up this mess.'


 Nevertheless, these numbers may just scratch the surface since they only encompass patients who were recognized as needing to make payments—prompting concerns that an additional vast sum, potentially in the millions, might not be accounted for.


 Conservative Party Member of Parliament Joe Robertson, who serves on the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, stated: "The UK should not function as a healthcare provider for the global community. The National Health Service administration must collect payment from individuals prior to delivering scheduled treatments. This ensures that those who might try to avoid settling their bills cannot do so."


 The NHS cannot justify asking for additional funds when they write off millions of pounds in debts owed by foreigners for optional, non-emergency procedures.


 If a tourist encounters an accident during their vacation in the UK, it is just that they receive emergency care; however, the NHS appears to be offering scheduled, non-urgent procedures to individuals from abroad who have not made payments.


 If NHS management doesn’t take control, then the Health Secretary must step in. Disbanding NHS England and bringing the NHS under direct government oversight would be pointless if Wes Streeting does not put an end to such significant wastage.


 Over the last couple of years, the government has had to bolster the NHS’s funding by an additional £21 billion, yet wait times for hospital treatments continue to be at all-time highs, with only 59 percent of patients being treated within the targeted 18 weeks.


 The £256.4 million wiped out could have financed salaries for 8,500 new nurses or almost 3,000 general practitioners. This amount could also bear the expense of caring for 27,000 individuals with breast cancer or support 15,000 kidney transplant procedures.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmRY4" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmRY4.jpg"/>

 The circumstance where numerous foreign patients’ bills pertain to treatments that are ‘elective,’—meaning they were scheduled beforehand—has intensified the frustration.


 Although general practitioner services and emergency treatment are provided without cost to everyone irrespective of their resident status, hospitals are meant to recognize chargeable individuals and invoice them beforehand—charging 150 percent of what the National Health Service (NHS) charges—prior to offering additional treatments like specialized consultations and scheduled operations.


 However, the statistics show that overburdened hospitals frequently cannot manage this promptly and end up sending bills to patients afterward — enabling them to depart the country without settling their payments.


 This differs from healthcare systems in France, Ireland, the US, and Australia, where individuals have to pay upfront.


 Alp Mehmet, the chairman of Migration Watch UK, stated that it was 'absurd' that merely a small portion of the expenses incurred by foreign patients was being reclaimed.


 'Wes Streeting needs to encourage trusts to cease depending solely on public funds for providing non-urgent care to individuals who aren’t eligible for it,' he stated.


 The creators of the National Health Service, such as Nye Bevan, would be appalled to discover it has transformed into an International Health Service.


 Over the last seven years, the NHS has charged international patients £621 million. Only around £233 million, which constitutes roughly one-third of the total, has been reimbursed. The sum being waived off keeps increasing as patients cannot be located, have passed away, or due to hospitals deciding against chasing these debts.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmMUx" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmMUx.jpg"/>

 Despite this, in 2014, when there were worries that the NHS had been too lenient with foreign patients, the government committed to recouping as much as £500 million annually.


 John O'Connell from the TaxPayers' Alliance urged Members of Parliament to revise the system and 'show proper respect for citizens’ hard-earned money.'


 He stated: "The inability of the health service to make sure those who aren’t eligible for free treatment pay their dues highlights a culture that shows little concern for squandered funds."


 Every hospital is legally obligated to recognize patients who do not qualify for free NHS treatment and must reclaim expenses; this responsibility is monitored by overseas visitor managers.


 It might include the use of the MESH system, an IT resource created by NHS England that checks a patient’s data against other databases, such as those maintained by the Home Office.


 International patients ought to be informed about the probable costs as well as payment procedures, and hospitals are required to undertake ‘every reasonable step’ to reclaim expenses prior to initiating treatment.


 However, for compassionate considerations, official guidelines assert that care deemed urgent by a physician must not be denied — even if the patient has stated they are unable to make payment.


 This is notably true in maternity wards, as denying care can adversely affect both mothers and infants.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmKvU" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmKvU.jpg"/>

 Here, an invoice gets generated with subsequent attempts to recoup expenses at a later time; these efforts could include setting up installment payments.


 Hospitals may resort to international debt collection agencies to recover such expenses; however, this approach is costly and does not ensure that the patient will agree or have the means to make payment, particularly if they are located.


 A policy specialist commented, "In truth, it frequently doesn’t make sense for hospital trusts because hiring sufficient personnel to verify each patient’s details and follow up with payments after invoicing can be too costly. The effectiveness varies among different trusts."


 These statistics encompass individuals who received initial attention at the emergency department before being moved to wards, making subsequent care charges applicable. Additionally, some cases involve referrals from general practitioners for scheduled assessments or treatments.


 Many hospitals struggled to differentiate between charges for elective and non-elective treatments. However, several institutions managed to provide such data; among them are those from Barking, Havering, and Redbridge—whose total of £1.3 million in uncollected debts over one year comprises an individual from Ghana owing £18,000 for orthopedic services. The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust reported offering elective procedures to 531 international patients within the past year, with an outstanding amount of £22,000 related to an unpaid bill for spinal surgery.


 The Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has verified that 396 international patients underwent elective procedures over the past year, leaving approximately £300,000 in unpaid bills across 194 invoices. Additionally, a patient from Hungary was treated for both kidney and heart issues at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and currently owes around £23,000. Furthermore, various individuals from countries such as India and Cameroon were provided with cancer treatments but still have substantial debts amounting to tens of thousands of pounds each.


 Data provided by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) indicates that international patients seem to be more frequently opting for elective National Health Service (NHS) treatments.


 Although the figures for individuals seeking emergency treatment haven’t significantly altered, the number of admissions for day procedures has more than doubled over nine years, increasing from 3,885 to 8,585 between 2022 and 2023. However, this figure dropped to 6,205 in the previous year.


 Data from The Mail on Sunday indicates that Nigerians held the highest amount of outstanding debts, closely trailed by individuals from Romania, India, Albania, and the United States. According to Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, within just one year, they charged 92 Nigerian nationals with a collective debt of £238,553—approximately £2,600 per person. Additionally, bills were issued to 76 Romanian residents totaling £178,936, as well as to 33 Albanian residents summing up to £106,959.


 The Mail on Sunday sought insights from multiple major hospital trusts regarding the challenges of recognizing chargeable patients and recovering these expenses; however, none agreed to comment.


 The Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged that due to capacity constraints, only around half of the patients identified by MESH as possibly eligible for charges could undergo additional analysis by their team. Out of over 8,000 individuals marked by MESH, 5,130 received further scrutiny, with 982 ultimately receiving bills for their care. A number of cases were excluded either because the patients qualified for an exemption or it was determined they weren’t subject to charges.


 The DHSC mentioned that they have recovered £4.4 billion from international patients since 2015-16. This figure encompasses all payments received through the Immigration Health Surcharge – which requires individuals holding study or work visas to pay £776 annually for access to the NHS – as well as revenue generated from treating citizens of nations belonging to the European Economic Area.


 Mr Streeting stated yesterday evening: "Similar to how British citizens overseas must cover their medical expenses, tourists visiting this nation should do the same. Given that patients are experiencing unbearably lengthy waits for general practitioner visits, surgeries, or even emergency services, it is unjustifiable for the National Health Service to bear the cost of treatments that ought to be covered financially."


 We will take action to clear up this situation. While we aim to reduce waiting lists, we will simultaneously address the issue of people taking advantage of British taxpayers' money.

Read more

Hospitals in UAE Write Off Over £250 Million in Unpaid Foreign Patient Bills

Hospitals with limited budgets have forgone £256.4 million owed by international patients due to inadequacies in verifying their eligibili...

Hospitals Write Off Over £250 Million in Unpaid Foreign Patient Bills

DIWIDA.NEWS healthcare and medicine, hospitals, medical and healthcare costs, medicine and healthcare, national health service

Hospitals facing financial difficulties have waived £256.4 million in debts owed by international patients due to inadequate verification processes for their entitlement to free care.
 NHS
 treatment.


 A probe conducted by The Mail on Sunday reveals rising debts incurred by health tourists – individuals who have received treatments ranging from spinal surgeries to cardiac care.
 cancer
 The treatment – is exacerbating the financial strain on NHS resources.


 Last year witnessed a loss of £44 million—a 63 percent rise from the £26.9 million written off by hospitals in 2017-18.


 Our investigation, which examined healthcare financial records spanning the last seven years and included an extensive Freedom of Information act request sent to various trusts throughout England, uncovers critical insights as follows:

<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Only a third of the £621 million debt from hospital visits by foreign tourists has been paid back.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 A Nigerian patient scheduled for treatment at Barts Health NHS Trust in London incurred an expense of almost £500,000, while a Romanian patient owes Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in South London £71,000.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 Over 400 international patients received elective care last year at the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust in East London, with 285 bills yet to be paid, amounting to a sum of £1.3 million collectively.
 </li>
</ul>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
 <li class="">
 In nine years, the number of medical tourists utilizing the NHS for scheduled treatments has increased twofold, exacerbating the lengthening queues for patients funded by taxpayers.
 </li>
</ul>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmUfG" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmUfG.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmRRk" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmRRk.jpg"/>
<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmFLK" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmFLK.jpg"/>

 Yesterday evening, following the confrontation with the MoS's findings, the Health Secretary was involved in an issue related to it.
 Wes Streeting
 pledged he would take action to 'tidy up this mess.'


 Nevertheless, these numbers may just scratch the surface since they only encompass patients who were flagged for payment—prompting concerns that an additional vast sum could be going unaccounted for.


 Conservative Party Member of Parliament Joe Robertson, who serves on the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, stated: "The UK should not function as a healthcare provider for the global community. The National Health Service administration must collect payment from individuals beforehand for any scheduled treatments. This ensures that those who might try to avoid paying their bills cannot do so."


 The NHS cannot justify asking for additional funds when it writes off substantial debts owed by international patients for optional, non-emergency procedures.


 If a visitor experiences an accident during their vacation in the UK, it is reasonable for them to get emergency treatment; however, the NHS appears to offer scheduled, non-urgent procedures to individuals from abroad who do not make payments.


 If NHS management doesn’t take control, the Health Secretary must step in to make them act. It makes no sense to abolish NHS England and bring the NHS under direct government oversight if Wes Streeting isn’t going to stop such blatant mismanagement.


 Over the last couple of years, the government has had to bolster the NHS’s funding by an additional £21 billion, yet wait times for hospital treatments continue to hit all-time highs, with only 59 percent of patients being treated within the targeted 18 weeks.


 The £256.4 million that was forgiven could have financed the hiring of approximately 8,500 new nurses or almost 3,000 additional general practitioners. This amount would also be sufficient to cover the treatment costs for about 27,000 breast cancer patients or support as many as 15,000 kidney transplant procedures.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmWoZ" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmWoZ.jpg"/>

 The anger has been exacerbated by the fact that numerous foreign patients’ bills are for treatments deemed ‘elective,’ which means they were scheduled beforehand.


 Although general practitioner services and emergency treatment are provided free of charge to everyone irrespective of their residency status, hospitals are required to recognize chargeable patients and request payment up front—amounting to 150 percent of NHS rates—before providing additional services like specialized consultations and scheduled treatments.


 However, the data shows that overburdened hospitals frequently cannot manage this promptly and end up sending bills to patients afterward—permitting them to depart the country without making payment.


 This differs from healthcare systems in France, Ireland, the US, and Australia, where individuals must pay upfront.


 Alp Mehmet, the chairperson of Migration Watch UK, described it as 'outrageous' that merely a small portion of the expenses incurred by foreign patients is being reclaimed.


 'The NHS trust needs Wes Streeting to ensure they cease depending solely on government funding for providing routine care to individuals who aren’t eligible for it,' he stated.


 The founders of the National Health Service, such as Nye Bevan, would be appalled to discover it has transformed into an International Health Service.


 Over the last seven years, the NHS has charged overseas patients £621 million. Only around one-third of this, approximately £233 million, has been recovered so far. The sum being waived is increasing as patients cannot be located, have passed away, or due to hospitals deciding against chasing these debts.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmWp0" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmWp0.jpg"/>

 Despite this, in 2014, when there were concerns that the NHS had been too lenient with international patients, the government committed to recouping as much as £500 million annually.


 John O'Connell from the TaxPayers' Alliance urged Members of Parliament to revamp the system and "show proper respect for citizens' hard-earned money."


 He stated: "The inability of the health service to make sure that those who aren’t eligible for free care pay their dues highlights a cultural indifference toward squandered resources."


 Every hospital is legally obligated to identify patients who do not qualify for free NHS treatment and must recoup expenses, with this responsibility monitored by overseas visitor managers.


 This could include the use of the MESH system, an IT resource created by NHS England that compares a patient’s data with other records, such as those maintained by the Home Office.


 International patients ought to be informed about the anticipated costs and payment procedures, and hospitals are required to undertake "all reasonable efforts" to collect these expenses prior to commencing treatment.


 However, due to compassionate considerations, official guidelines assert that care deemed urgent by a physician should not be denied — even if the patient has stated they are unable to make payment.


 This is especially true in maternity wards, as denying care can adversely affect both mothers and infants.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CmFLM" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CmFLM.jpg"/>

 Here, an invoice is generated initially, followed by subsequent attempts to recoup the expenses through potential installment payments.


 Hospitals may resort to international debt collection agencies to recover such expenses; however, this approach is costly and does not ensure that the patient will either agree or have the means to make payment, assuming they are located successfully.


 A policy specialist commented, "In truth, hospitals frequently find it impractical because hiring sufficient personnel to verify each patient’s information and follow up on payments after invoices are sent can be too costly. The effectiveness varies among different trust organizations."


 These statistics encompass individuals who received initial attention in the emergency department before being hospitalized, making subsequent treatments chargeable. Additionally, they involve cases where general practitioners refer patients to hospitals for scheduled evaluations or procedures.


 Many hospitals struggled to distinguish between billing for elective and non-elective services. However, certain institutions like Barking, Havering, and Redbridge—where an outstanding unpaid amount of £1.3 million over one year encompasses a debt from a Ghanaian patient for orthopedic treatments totaling £18,000—did provide detailed numbers. The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust disclosed that they treated 531 international patients for elective procedures last year, with one case involving an uncollected sum of £22,000 related to spinal surgery.


 The Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has verified that 396 international patients underwent planned procedures over the past year, leaving approximately £300,000 in unpaid bills for 194 services provided. Additionally, a patient from Hungary was treated at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust for both kidney and heart issues and now owes around £23,000. Furthermore, numerous individuals hailing from countries such as India and Cameroon have been billed significant amounts—tens of thousands of pounds—for their respective treatments related to cancer care they received elsewhere within these healthcare systems.


 Data provided by officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) indicate that international patients seem to be more frequently opting for elective treatments through the NHS.


 Although the figures for patients seeking emergency care haven’t significantly altered, the number of individuals admitted for day procedures has nearly tripled over nine years, rising from 3,885 to 8,585 between 2014 and 2022-23. However, this figure dropped to 6,205 in the previous year.


 Data from The Mail on Sunday indicates that Nigerians held the highest amount of outstanding debts, trailed closely by Romanians, Indians, Albanians, and U.S. citizens. According to Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, within just one year, 92 Nigerian individuals accumulated a debt totaling £238,553—approximately £2,600 per person. Additionally, they charged 76 Romanian nationals with a combined bill of £178,936 and invoiced 33 Albanian people an aggregate sum of £106,959.


 The Mail on Sunday sought explanations from multiple major hospital trusts regarding the challenges of recognizing chargeable patients and recovering such expenses, yet none agreed to comment.


 The Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged that due to capacity constraints, only approximately half of the patients identified by MESH as possibly eligible for charges could undergo additional evaluation by their team. Out of over 8,000 individuals flagged by MESH, around 5,130 received further assessments, with 982 ultimately receiving bills for their treatments. A number were excluded either because they possessed a legitimate exemption or upon determination that they weren’t subject to charges.


 The DHSC stated that they have recovered £4.4 billion from international patients since 2015-16. This figure encompasses all payments received through the Immigration Health Surcharge, which requires individuals holding work or study visas to pay £776 annually for access to the NHS. It also includes revenue generated from treating citizens of countries within the European Economic Area.


 Mr. Streeting stated yesterday evening: "Similar to how British citizens overseas must cover their medical expenses, visitors coming to this nation should do the same. Given that patients are experiencing unbearably lengthy waits for general practitioner visits, surgeries, or even emergency services, it is unjustifiable for the National Health Service to bear the cost of treatments that ought to be covered financially."


 We will take action to clear up this situation. While we strive to reduce waiting lists, we will simultaneously tackle those who benefit unfairly at the cost of British taxpayers.

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