At ex pat neighbour and NHS use

[woolythoughts]

Neighbour emigrated to Thailand about 30 years ago. We kept in touch with him over the years. Whilst his mother was still alive, they came back twice a year and made sure that they did opticians and various other routine things whilst here.

He now rents his mothers old house out to tenants.

He’s now been diagnosed with cancer and is currently making travel arrangements to return to the UK, evict his tenants and get cancer treatment on the NHS as decent treatment is too expensive for him to pay for where he is.

He’s paid nothing into the country for the last 30 years so how can it be right he’s able to do this?

And before anyone asks, yes I am 100% sure of my facts.

He'll be classed as ordinarily resident when he arrives, if he's still a British citizen

Yes this is my understanding too.

And besides - poor fucker's got cancer...

Hmm try again

Because he's getting something without contributing anything to it! If everyone did this there'd be no funds at all for the NHS.

Children don't contribute, unemployed don't contribute, disabled (and unable to work) people don't contribute.

The guys got cancer and trying to save his life the only way he knows how. Here have a

Wow. You're horrible.

You sound like a right birch.

Not if they are genuine asylum seekers no - economic migrant swhich most of them are, yes I do.

Most of who are economic migrants?!

You attitude is vile. You have a grudge against this person and have rooted about in their affairs, become righteous and come on here expecting other people to assure that YNBU.

In my opinion, you are VU.

I meant the other word. Bloody autocorrect.

I wouldn’t be bothered about him getting the treatment. If his rental income is under the threshold then there’s nothing that can be done. I would just be mildly annoyed that you say he’s vocal about Brexit despite his own situation.

So anyone who doesn’t pay tax like children, pensioners, sahms, people on benefits etc shouldn’t get nhs care. Is that what you’re saying?

I can’t begrudge someone accessing cancer care.

I think if you've emigrated like he has, you should have to pay the NHS levy like immigrants for a set period of time if you come back.

Snap kaytee!!

Yes you're quite right OP he should do the right thing and just die quietly

I paid virtually no tax in 15/16 and 16/17. If the NHS hadn’t worked out what was wrong with me, I’d probably never have paid tax again. As it is, I’ve had a bumper year 🤷🏻‍♀️

I know a lot about this, because it's my job - I won't go into the specifics though as it's outing.

The NHS is based on residency. If your neighbour is moving back to the UK on a permanent basis (usually deemed as 6 months or more but depends on the individual trust policy) then he is entitled to NHS care from day 1 of arriving into the UK. The specific term for this is 'ordinarily resident'.

If the plan was that he was coming here for treatment and then planning on returning to Thailand after or between treatments, then he would not be determined as ordinarily resident and would be expected to pay for the care that he receives.

It makes absolutely no difference what he has or hasn't paid into the system for the past 30 years - just the same as someone who has emigrated/immigrated to the UK will not have paid anything 'in'.

It is based on what his plans are going forward, not the past. If he proves that he's here to stay (which proof of address, bank accounts, utility bills etc. Will) and then he is perfectly entitled to the care.

Yes he is a cheeky fucker, but I would be more concerned about the many high income tax dodgers whose money could have gone to the NHS. The behaviour of Phillip Green, Jimmy Carr, Gary Barlow etc would bother me more than one seriously ill person.

A distant relative of my dad's did this. He emigrated to America as a young man and lived there all of his life, was a naturalised American and had a US passport. By all accounts fairly well off, never married and no kids. In his 80s he decided he rather missed being in the UK so just packed up and moved back in with a sibling in the UK. He made extensive use of the NHS before he died and saw nothing wrong with that.

I think if you've emigrated like he has, you should have to pay the NHS levy like immigrants for a set period of time if you come back.

So you’ve decided that your neighbour is a GENUINE migrant, but you’ve also decided that most asylum seekers coming to the U.K., for, y'know, asylum, are naughty economic migrants and not “genuine”?

Could you talk us through your workings out?

Poor man. His mother (not his ex mother as you tastelessly put it) passed away and now he has cancer. Something that bothers you not one whit.

He's a British citizen and entitled to care on the NHS, either now or sometime soon.

Surely you should be feeling a scrap of human sympathy and kindness for him. It's not your job to police what others are entitled to.

If his rental income was over the personal allowance / NI threshold would he not pay the tax though?

If someone doesn't earn enough to pay tax, they are of course still entitled to NHS treatment.

If he didn't pay taxes in Thailand then that's pretty foolish. Thai prison would not be as comfortable as English prison.

Wow the man has cancer and you want to deny him treatment. He should make his bed and lie in it... whilst what he dies of cancer?! I suggest you spend less time worrying about the nhs and some more time trying to find some compassion. Or maybe your nhs gp can refer you for a scan to see where your heart is.

But once he’s resident in the UK, as in once he moves back, he is eligible for NHS treatment. What exactly do you think people do when they move abroad for work for a few years then come back to the UK? It happens all the time! Fine if you think a levy should exist for returning expats, absolutely not fine to make it about this poor man who has been diagnosed with cancer.

By the way, economic migrants often fall into the category of 'can't afford to buy food and no hope of ever doing so' at home. You do realise that? If you were starving and Britain had no opportunity for you to put a roof over your childrens' heads or save your daughters from a life of prostitution, I expect you would feel like a 'real' refugee.

He is planning on going back to Thailand once he's "cured" if that happens.

He's already stated that and is quite proud of it as, and I quote, "he find it depressing here"

Just not planning to tell the authorities.

Is it because he let the U.K. that you count his migration as genuine? But incoming migration is more suspect in your mind?

This is so confusing.