to think drs who recently complained about salaries should be willing to try to get money out of non uk tax payers who use the NHS

[Scoobydoo8]

It really annoys me that drs won't charge people for health care because they want to be seen as mr niceguy or something to do with their hippocratic oath or whatever it's damn unfair that anyone can come to the uk for treatment.

There have been many threads recently complaining about the new low salaries for junior doctors, which were justified, but to then whinge about having to enforce rules to reduce the misuse of the NHS by foreigners make me feel - serves you right.

They claim that it isn't worth trying to reclaim the money but look guys, if people think they will never be charged they will come in their droves, if they think they might be nailed for the cost they might stay at home - obvious imo.

Pinot
I hope you have reported them to the home office

but actually I think you are talking utter piffle

because the last time I came into the UK on my non UK passport it was an effing nightmare

So now we are border officials! LOL

Junior doctor salary cuts are not justified

A friend of mine works as a midwife in a Birmingham hospital. She says many women get off a plane from a non EU country, heavily pregnant and get a taxi straight to the hospital. She reckons the hospital presents them with a bill but doesn't enforce it. People go home and aren't chased.....how can they be???

So I don't think telling junior drs to get involved is going to help.

She says many women get off a plane from a non EU country, heavily pregnant and get a taxi straight to the hospital

Bollocks.

Simply because airlines will not let women board who are more than 6 months pregnant

And UK Immigration are utter bastards (only the British do not understand how harsh they can be) and would not let them in

I had a colleague who accepted a job over here (it was in education in a health care setting). After about 2 years in the job she had her major orthopaedic surgery for which she would have paid thousands in her own country. She recuperated at the home of a very kind gulliblevolunteer (we're a charity) and predictably didn't return to her job here (having received sick pay) but returned to her own country having well and truly screwed the NHS.

Was your colleague not paying tax for the 2 years that she worked in the UK, Punkrockergirl?

Why on earth would I be taking piffle?

The hospitals would need admin processes and staff to be able to charge non-EEA visitors.

This is not a DOCTOR'S job. They are paid to be medics, not administrators. That is why the BMA is complaining.

I think everyone would agree that with the right processes and staff in place to administer payments, this would be a sensible thing to do. It would not be sensible to expect it can be implemented without the processes and staff.

Forgot about GPs, yes the health tourists don't get registered.

My brother (British army) can back after a tour of duty abroad and it took a week until the local surgery would register him. They wanted loads of proof.

Most people here for work get NHS cover.

I see a lot more non-British staff propping up the NHS than I see non-residents using it... Where I work, it is very rarely an issue.

But I do remember....apologies, as this is very anonymised....but a young child who ended up receiving intensive care level support for quite some weeks. The relevant office in the hospital was notified. Who liaised with the parents' insurance company. At the end of the stay, a final bill was submitted to the travel/health insurance company, in USA. And they called back to say "Look, we've agreed that we're liable, but it's really inconsiderate of you to send us a partial bill. They're no longer in hospital, so can you please send us the bill for the whole stay, not just the first few days".

The reply of course, was that it WAS the whole bill. Because the NHS is so much more cost efficient than US care! Shame we couldn't have just defrauded the insurance company for the amount they were expecting though, we could have had several more nurses for a few years...

pinotblush
I've been locked up by UK Immigration - only for a few hours and then my paper trail tidied itself
but honestly
most English people have ABSOLUTELY no idea how hard it is to get into this country.

Punkrocker
2 years of paying tax and NI and you resent her using the NHS

what about all the English people who never pay into the NHS before using it
millions and millions of them
what should THEY do ?

Working for 2 years is a bit above and beyond if just trying to screw the NHS.

Honestly what a load of bigoted people.

I bloody well know this due the person living up stairs from me!

have you reported them?

I had some medical treatment in the UK while not resident. I am a UK citizen but it didn't feel right so I asked them about paying. They didn't know how. Honestly, there is no facility to do this. It's just not within the system

I'm very surprised because I too had medical treatment in the UK as a non-resident and they sent me the bill to my home address, which I promptly paid.

Yes, I reported him Talkin.

atenco I imagine it depends which bit of the health service you use. We've been charged, and paid, to use services that are free to UK residents.

The idea that GPs are dealing with huge numbers of unregistered patients is a bit hard to swallow - the two times that my family has needed an emergency GP appointment while in the UK it has been an enormous hassle to find a GP, even when the patient was an 8 month old. When my husband needed a GP appointment on a London trip, finding a GP willing to see him was mission impossible and he saw a private one instead.

Of course she was pino But she made absolutely no effort to hide the fact that she'd come over here to get free surgery (after working within the organsation for 2 years). As I said, we're a charity, so we paid her sick pay, a kindly volunteer (an ex nurse) looked after her and waited on her hand and foot post discharge. And then she buggered off back to her own country having taken the nhs and a hospice for complete mugs

Loads of hospitals I have worked in do have Overseas Patients offices for this very purpose. We aren't just letting the world and his wife in and doing all their elective surgery. I have seen patients abscond from hospital because they could no longer afford treatment, and cared for private ICU patients from overseas whose bills ran into tens if not hundreds of thousands.

A lot does slip through the net, and more could be done to ensure people pay what they ought to, but it is not for doctors to police and has nothing to do with the junior doctor contract argument.

How much is a night in Intensive Care?

Not sure why you're referring to me Punk? I didn't question you?

To be honest, considering what this country has taken from the rest of the world over the last couple of centuries, we probably owe more than a few £626 treatments.

Sorry pino, misread a post.