Health Tourism - woman has 5 babies on the NHS

[BlimmingCheek]

AIBU to think that this woman is taking the bloody piss?

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3673011/Nigerian-mum-Bimbo-Ayelabola-flew-into-Britain-and-had-quins-on-the-NHS.html

I very much doubt she will be sent back. Who is paying her legal fees is what I would like to know?

Are we a soft touch or just a lovely compassionate country with enough resources for all?

Who wouldn't have had to make such a choice otherwise.

"Exactly math. Our aging population will need these babies in the future as taxpayers."

Our aging population (certainly four aging members of it that I know) will be paying for "these babies" almost certainly until those four aging members die.

As as has been pointed out - it does not matter how much tax they pay - they will never pay for the cost of their births and treatment on the NHS, particularly not if they go on to have babies themselves.

There's no cogent economic argument for it and people might as well stop trying to make one. The only argument is that it should be allowed on compassionate grounds. Which is all very well, but people are feeling sorry for the wrong people. Basically this is doing a Madonna: the money spent on five not under privileged individuals could be spent to better effect put in the foreign aid budget and contributing to health care in Namibia and/or political pressure, technical advice etc on improving health services there. While Namibia's relatively well off can travel and have their babies for free elsewhere there is no pressure for improvement at home. Pressure comes from the privilieged and people with choice, not the people left behind who have no choice at all.

Disclaimer: I know very little about Namibia except that it is steeped in corruption with a massive divide, greater than we can probably imagine, between people with choice and people with none.

I also, obviously, have been saying Namibia instead of Nigeria. But then, everything I said was meant about Nigeria and it was an elision that came from I know not where in my head. I know less about Namibia than I know about Nigeria.

Sidge, with five babies to support, it is fairly certain that she faces absolute poverty in Nigeria. Nigeria is a society of haves and have nots.

Nobody pays enough tax to afford even one delivery in Britain, be they British or whatever.

Blimming -- would the story of the lost baby be any sadder if the babies were the offspring of some woman born in Britain who had overstretched the NHS? The fact is that anyone could find their NICU overwhelmed the day their baby needed it. That is outrageous, and that needs to be corrected. But to insinuate that NICUs are routinely overwhelmed by women straight off the plane is nothing but an inflammatory lie. And I hope you are proud of yourself for using a tragedy like the loss of a baby to further your racist agenda.

LOL at the idea that foreign aid goes into healthcare, education, or anything apart from the ruling elite of countries it is sent to and their hold on power. What naivete. The money lines the pockets of the dictators and their families, the higher ranks of the military, and pays for warplanes and bombs.

OP I echo what math said. Would it be ok if a person lost their baby because SCBU was filled with good ol' British babies? The fact that that story tells is that our SCBU are woefully over capacity and need investment.

No we are not inundated with heavily pregnant African women pouring out of plans straight into hospitals. I imagine this woman arrived, perhaps with the intent of seeking medical attention. Regardless, once she was here she could not leave even if she wanted. Which airline would take her? They get skittish with normal pregnant woman and require a dr's note. No dr would sign off a five multip pg and no airline would risk flying her. Or do you suggest we forcefully pack her on to one? Or onto an equally dangerous boat?

The inherent prejudice that seeps out when topics like this come up is disgusting. Suddenly everyone knows someone who suffered because these pesky immigrants came in to this country. No - horrible things happened. People want someone easy to blame and so choose vulnerable targets.

mathanxiety: "Nobody pays enough tax to afford even one delivery in Britain, be they British or whatever"

That is a little ridiculous, if it was true, we wouldn't be able to afford to have children at all, as the tax income of the country wouldn't cover maternity services, let alone everything else!

at the idea that I might be naive about foreign aid

At least you gave up the attempt to justify it economically.

The problem with justifying it on compassionate grounds is that you have no reason or place ever to draw a line. There is no reason to say no to anyone, which we obviously can't afford.

The UK is like the eighth descendent of a once wealthy aristocrat who has precious little money and cannot afford the repairs to his stately home, yet still feels obliged to give overly large alms to anyone who comes begging. Charity begins at home and this woman is clearly taking the p*ss. The only hope is that she has cute babies and manages to get a reality TV show.

As for Maths' comment about people's taxes not even affording one birth, a birth at the rather expensive Portland costs circa £20k privately so those on a median London income probably pay for one every year and a half or so. One can only hope the inefficient NHS is a little cheaper than the Portland.

I don't know - maybe math would prefer to abolish the entire foreign aid budget and transferring the money to the NHS for these purposes.

I dont think she is anymore taki g the piss than the american dh ofan english friend who needs so much medical help - he is morbidly obese with diabetes and all complications - they are planning to move to the UK so he can get free healthcare. No insurance company will touch him with a long pole.

Wow, that's taking the piss big time. Is there no visa system to prevent this?

It's an interesting point riven as technically even a British national cannot get free NHS treatment until they have resided here for 12 months.

Not just technically: a British poster earlier up thread who was living abroad temporarily but paying tax and Ni throughout had to go private for maternity care here when complications set it.

Not sure thats true. We lived abroad 3 years and came back about 5 weeks before dd was due. No issues cos we are all bitish nationals. And she was in NICU/SCBU for a long time. They just asked to see proff of UK nationality.

It is true, you were given allowances. I don't think the year's residence is true, but "permanent residence" is required.

Just to clarify - I am quite happy for people to come to this country to use our excellent healthcare facilities in the publicly funded NHS. I don't mind if they do this deliberately and never pay a penny in tax. I believe this because I think the health of 5 babies and their mother is more important than (eg) Bob Diamond (Barclays) £6.5 million bonus, more important than (eg) Vodaphone, Arcadia, Fortnum & Mason being able to avoid tax. The tragic loss of the baby mentioned above was not due to scrounging immigrants, it was due to inadequate ICU provision. Three ill babies could have come from Shropshire, the unit would still be overstretched. I am very proud to live in a country known throughout the world for providing health care based on need, not money.

'Wow, that's taking the piss big time. Is there no visa system to prevent this?'

Well, yes, there is. The spouse of a British national has to apply for a very expensive visa. He/she, also has to prove, via financial statements, accommodation, job offers, etc. that they will be able to live in the UK for two years without recourse to public funds.

There are rules governing immigration for people who are Commonwealth nationals, spouses/fiances of British nationals, EU/EEA nationals and non-EU/EEA nationals.

Nigeria is a non-EU/EEA national.

That's how it works.

I was talking about the American person. Does recourse to public funds include NHS treatment? This is very interesting.

It does for him because he is married to a British national, Goosebury, coming into the country on a visa of more than 6 months. He will need to pay for this, it's about £700, and prove he can support himself without welfare for 2 years. And not be a criminal.

It's not a question of rocking up and saying, 'Oh, I married a British national, let me get on the dole forever.' It doesn't work that way.

If he were not married to a British or EU/EEA national, he'd have to come here as a) a visitor for 6 months b) a student (have to pay for that) c) work permit/skilled worker (have to pay for that).

Thanks for the info, every thread should have a person who knows what they're talking about.

Alice it's that approach that will cripple our country even more, raise taxes even more. We do not have a bottomless money pit to do this , something has to give

Unfortunately it isn't the first time our NHS system has been abused under "health tourism" and it won't be the last.