Is it U to use the NHS when you dont live in the UK ?

[bijou3]

My sister had a baby last weekend, the poor nurses were so busy as the maternity ward was full. Some of the Mothers in the ward were talking apparently 5 women in the ward were from the Middle East (UK citizens living there) that had come back to the UK to give birth. They were laughing about how they earn TAX free money but instead of using their health care abroad they use the NHS FOC for each delivery. I couldn?t believe that 5 women were all sponging off the NHS in one hospital, how many others do this?

if i had to move to the middle east for DHs job and was pregnant then i am damn sure i would be coming home to the UK to give birth! there's no way i would want to give birth in an arabic country!

i agree that it's not fair if you don't pay tax, and i would feel better if i could contribute, but it would not make me give birth in the middle east (btw. i would hate to move there in the first place but DH is a professional in construction industry and sometimes when times are tough it is suggested as an alternative to redundancy)

also, i guess having paid tax and NI in the uk since i was 16 and being 35 now, i think the nhs can shout me a birth even if DH was posted abroad when i happened to need it.

Just to add a bit of balance...I know several Nigerian women who have flown here late in pregnancy, had their babies and paid the NHS for their care. It costs roughly the same here as there financially, but the cost in terms of risk to their health/ the health of their babies is massively reduced this way.

good point twilight. My mom, who lives in California, was over last year and needed to be seen in A & E. She had medical and travel insurance, and was happy to pay. She was discharged by the doctor. She asked if she needed to go to the cashier's office and he laughed.

So, she was absolutely not entitled to free NHS treatment, and through no fault of her own, couldn't pay for it.

I have heard that in some hospitals in London, there is someone who goes around the wards to collect for those who aren't entitled to free NHS treatment.

People who aren't resident aren't entitled, and should pay. Obviously this shouldn't affect emergency treatment

I would have thought it made sense if these were british women with british passports, who presumably wanted their children to be born in britain and also be british...

Having a child with a different nationality to your own can cause a lot of headaches with documentation and legal issues.

The UAE has private hospitals with British and Filipino staff the same as the UK. Government hospitals are used by Arabs OR THE Arabs come to the UK for treatment at private hospitals here.

" i think the nhs can shout me a birth even if DH was posted abroad when i happened to need it."

No, the NHS can't "shout" things for people who are not entitled to them.

If you move abroad and you want NHS care, pay for it.

Maybe squeaky but they should pay for it though.

Ilovemydog - the same thing happened to my dad. He is British, paid taxes here forh best part of 20 years but is now an expat and has been for a long time.
He got sick here, needed hospital treatment and when he offered up his insurance documents so they could bill him, they just said not to worry!

Squeekytoy, even if a child was born in another country to British parents the child would still be British.

If they want their children born in Britain, they can pay for it.

It doesn't make "perfect sense" for them to use precious, scarce resources they have no entitlement to.

Treatment on the NHS is not free.

They do chase you up. We moved back to the UK when I was 32 weeks pregnant (been gone 2 years) and was questioned extensively after the birth about residency. DH had a job and we were permanenty back here.

And these irresponsible, lazy twats refusing to take payments from foreign insurance companies should be fired for wasting public money.

Bijou3 -it's not always true that a child born overseas with one or more British parents will automatically be British, if the parents weren't born in the UK. I have several totally British friends who are from second or third generation army or diplomatic families - born all over the world while serving the UK - who have had to come back to the UK to give birth or their children would be officially stateless. Same would apply to British-born children of first- generation immigrants.

Squeaky, a child born here to non-British parents cannot get British nationality.

I thought if you were unmarried, you weren't allowed to give birth in the middle east.

Does your sister know all their personal details too?

it depends AThing. If they had to put a couple of stitches in someone's leg and it would end up costing more in admin fees and whathaveyou to chase the money up, then they have a call to make

Jumping 'twilight my friend had terrible problems, born in Singapore, both parents were British, father was in the RN and stationed in Singapore.' I have that exact same circumstance and have never had any problem accessing NHS services.
My BIL moved to USA and came home for a visit, he became very ill and needed ICU care and his insurance company was billed for all of this. Sadly he passed away.

I don't think it's sustainable. Just like the benefits system. They weren't intended to be for all the world.

www.expatwoman.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=82846

Some hospital treatment is free of charge for everyone who needs it, regardless of how long they have been or intend to stay in the UK. This is:-

?treatment for accidents and emergencies as an outpatient in a hospital?s accident and emergency department. Emergency treatment in a walk-in centre is also free of charge (England and Wales only). However, if you are referred to an outpatient clinic or admitted to hospital from an accident and emergency department, you will be charged
?compulsory psychiatric treatment
?In England and Scotland, compulsory treatment under a court order
?treatment for certain communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, cholera, food poisoning, malaria, meningitis and pandemic influenza. Testing for the HIV virus and counselling following a test are both free of charge, but any necessary subsequent treatment and medicines may have to be paid for
?family planning services.

You can receive free NHS hospital treatment if you:-

?have been living legally in the UK for at least 12 months when you start treatment, and did not come to the UK for private medical treatment. Temporary absences from the UK of up to three months (in England, up to 182 days) are ignored
?have come to the UK to take up permanent residence, for example, if you are a former UK resident who has returned from abroad, or if you have been granted leave to enter or remain as a spouse
?have come to the UK to work, either as an employee or self-employed person. In England and Wales, if you are employed, your employer's main place of business must be in the UK or be registered in the UK. This could be, for example, a branch of an overseas company. If you are self-employed your main place of business must be in the UK
?normally work in the UK, but are temporarily working abroad for less than five years. You also need to have lived in the UK continuously for at least ten years before going overseas.
?In Scotland, you normally work in the UK but are temporarily working abroad. You must have lived in the UK continuously for at least ten years and taken home leave in the UK at least once every two years. However, if you are studying abroad you may not be entitled to free NHS treatment

You seem to have spent a lot of time researching this, OP.
Dull Jubilee week, eh?
What's your sister's new baby like? Cute?

"If they had to put a couple of stitches in someone's leg and it would end up costing more in admin fees and whathaveyou to chase the money up, then they have a call to make"

The accountants have a call to make. Not the medical staff.

OK, so it sounds like the women you are talking about (if they actually exist...) would probably be covered under the last-but-one point - working abroad for less than five years. So all legitimate.

"normally work in the UK, but are temporarily working abroad for less than five years. You also need to have lived in the UK continuously for at least ten years before going overseas."

oh look, maybe - the NHS could shout you a birth (or two, even three at a push :o )

I'm glad to be wrong on that one. This seems fair. :)

As roundtable pointed out you have no idea of their situations. There are plenty of exemptations to the "you live overseas so you are not entitled to the NHS" rule, including how you were recruited, the type of contract you have and who you are employed by. If there were five women from oil producing ME countries I'm guessing your sister is somewhere like Aberdeen where many people in the oil industry work and have homes. If this is the case the women and the hospital will know much more about the legalities of this than you.

Exexpat - if a child is born overseas to a parent who is in Crown Service (so a member of HM forces, diplomatic service or home civil service posted abroad) then under the British Nationality Act 1981, that child is regarded as being British "other than by descent" and is able to pass on their British nationality to a child born abroad.

So - Dad in the Navy, posted to Washington DC, Mum gives birth there to Little Jimmy. Jimmy grows up, goes to work in the Middle East, marries a French woman, who gives birth to a child in Dubai - this child will be British by descent, because Jimmy is deemed to be British other than by descent due to his father's Crown Service, even though he was born abroad. Jimmy may also have a claim to US nationality, depending on what type of visa his father had at the time of his birth.