Thursday, August 23, 2012

Nigerian 'health tourist' flew to UK for caesarean bearing on NHS

The 'health tourist' travelled added than 3,000 afar from her home country to the cash-strapped Wythenshawe Hospital for an emergency caesarean.

It is accepted the woman, who was accomplished at top US university Harvard, flew to Manchester Airport and went anon to the hospital area she told doctors she appropriate the action afterwards a browse in Nigeria appear complications in her pregnancy.

Health abbot Simon Burns said the NHS is not there to 'serve the bloom needs of the globe' and said the government is reviewing the arrangement to anticipate inappropriate admission to NHS resources.

Shadow bloom secretary Andy Burnham, the MP for adjacent Leigh, aswell alleged for an analysis into the case.

Nationally the NHS treats bags of patients from alfresco the European Union who are not advantaged to chargeless affliction and in 2010/11 NHs hospitals answerable beyond visitors over 23m for analysis and wrote off beneath 7m of debts.

Hospitals generally attempt to compensate their costs and seek advice from Embassies. They can acquaint Border Agency which can block the acknowledgment of any bloom day-tripper who leaves bills of added than 1,000 unpaid.

Foreign patients are answerable the aforementioned accepted collapsed amount for anniversary analysis they accept as the NHS would pay.

The woman accustomed at the hospital and told agents that she had undergone an ultrasound browse which appear complications and she was brash to accept a caesarean.

It is accepted she fabricated the adventure because she believed she would be in safer easily in Britain.

Nigeria offers chargeless maternology affliction but it is of poor superior and there is a top bloodshed amount area a woman has a one in 13 adventitious of dying during abundance or childbirth, according to statistics.

A hospital antecedent labelled her a 'health tourist' and said she had appropriate all-inclusive resources, including midwives, two urology consultants, a radiology consultant, two obstetric consultants and two anaesthetists in the supply room.

Mother and babyish recovered able-bodied and were absolved this week, it is understood. She is anticipation to accept aback alternate to Nigeria.

The hospital will now try to bill the woman for her analysis but has no admiral to force her to pay or to anticipate her abrogation the country.

The hospital assurance has apparent a abiding admission in the amount of non-EU patients it has advised recently, up from 78 in 2008/9 to 133 endure year.

A hospital agent said: "At Wythenshawe, as with all hospital trusts beyond the UK, the affliction we bear to all patients is chargeless at the point of delivery.

"If a accommodating is a non-UK citizen and analysis is advised all-important or burning again analysis would never be withheld.

"In commendations to accomplishment costs from non-UK association who use our services, we attach to guidelines issued by the Department of Health.

"As anon as a non-UK accommodating arrives our accounts aggregation are alerted and the alone is fabricated aware, area applicable, of the costs they are accountable for as categorical in the Department of Health's civic tariff.

"Every accomplishment is again fabricated to accompany any monies owed."

A hospital antecedent said Wythenshawe is targeted by bloom tourists because of its abutting adjacency to the airport just over two afar away.

Last year, the government appear a crackdown on 'health tourism' and guidelines on how to barrier the convenance were appear by the Department of Health.

It said hospitals could bill adopted patients for their affliction but the debts of humans who leave the country afterwards getting advised abide about absurd to recover.

Mr Burns said: "We won't abide corruption of our civic bloom service. The NHS has a assignment to anyone whose activity or abiding bloom is at actual accident but it is not there to serve the bloom needs of the globe.

"There are absolute rules and procedures to allegation visitors for hospital analysis but we apperceive that the arrangement needs to be improved.

"That is why we are currently reviewing those arrange to anticipate inappropriate chargeless admission to the NHS and accommodate a fairer added counterbalanced system. Hospitals accept a acknowledged assignment to balance any accuse fabricated to beyond patients."

Mr Burnham said: "We charge a abounding analysis into the affairs and how the hospital has been larboard in this position.

"There are bright rules about bloom tourism and the NHS have to be able to balance its costs."

Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, added: "This is artlessly a greenhorn allotment to finer abduct off the NHS and the government should use whatever admiral it has to get the money back."

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