Nigerian woman flying to UK to have c section on NHS

[Liketochat1]

A Nigerian mother flew to the UK to have a c section in Manchester hospital for free. Does this matter? Wouldn't any mother do what she could to ensure better care for her child? Why do people get all outraged?

do you pay taxes in the UK or NIgeria? NB she wasn't being denied this care in Nigeria. Where she is resident.

is this research?

I think we had this thread before, it turned into a massive bunfight.

oooohhh. My first

That sounds odd. I would need more information to be able to comment really - do you have a link or more details?

Er, I havent read about this but it depends what visa she has. If she just has a visit visa (ie short-term for a holiday) she would NOT be entitled to free NHS care and would have to stump up the cash. I'm a bit confused why she is desperate for free medical treatment if she can afford the air fare...

More details please op!

Ah, I have just seen who the op of this is...

Do I know you blackberry?!
No I don't think she was being denied treatment in Nigeria. I understand she thought she would get better care in the UK though.
I will go and find a link...

Here we are- www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/23/health-tourist-nigeria-manchester

Forgot to convert! www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/23/health-tourist-nigeria-manchester

So many questions here. What kind of a visa was she on? It looks like visit, so she's not entitled to NHS care anyway. Of course if she was actually labouring at that point she wouldn't be turned away. But it looks like this was a scheduled c-section. Even someone on a resident visa cannot just walk into a hospital and demand treatment, only eligible for treatment at an A&E. You need to produce your visa as part of the procedure when registering at the GP itself.

How did she get a visa, or even fly, if she was in late pregnancy anyway?

How could they have turned her away though? They couldn't. Perhaps she had placenta previa or something and obviously was in labour or close to labour. I can imagine the hosp couldn't take the risk of sending her home to Nigeria to give birth on a plane.

I don't really see how we could prevent this sort of thing other than by doing things that we couldn't countenance. For instance what I heard some Greek hospitals have been accused of doing which is discharging the woman but keeping the baby until the bill is paid (this was for illegal immigrants so a similar situation). I heard that on a R4 report I think. I don't know if it's true but it's obviously awful all ways round. Desperate women desperate for treatment, desperate hospitals in Greece struggling for every penny and just not in a position to write off bad debts.

Well she is being billed for the care, so it isn't 'free'. Though I guess that's a bit irrelevant if she refuses to pay and they can't force her.

She was not entitled to NHS care. She turned up needing it. The hospital will have suspected from the second she walked in the door that they wouldn't get paid but at that point it would be utterly wrong to deny her treatment. So she gets the treatment and the bill - which won't be paid. This happens a lot. Nobody can be blamed for wanting good care. She got an operation that is far safer for her and her baby if carried out in the UK. What should happen is that Nigeria bears the costs for their citizen's treatment. Small chance of that!

I thought airlines had their own rules about flying in late pregnancy, and most (all?) don't allow it if over 8 months.

I thought that was what Blackberry meant too.

Also curious to how she and the baby flew back so soon. Would the baby not need a passport to fly? How would they get one so soon as to be able to fly back so soon after the birth, and especially so soon after the mother has had abdominal surgery too.

Yes there are all kinds of questions to be answered here. The article mentions a possible inquiry so maybe if that happens it will become more clear exactly what happened and how.

I can well believe that the situation does happen generally where someone gets NHS treatment they're not entitled to, then can't or won't pay the bill. In fact I know from chatting to people who work in the NHS that this happens, but it's a difficult problem to solve.

It isn't definite that she has gone back yet though. She clearly did her homework and possibly had a network here to help her. I would imagine that in Nigeria and elsewhere it is perfectly possible to ensure one's passage beyond the usual dates, get Visas etc - as long as you are prepared to pay for the service. The lady who came over last year to have quins is still here too - her Visa expiere sin dEcember and she hasn't paid for their delivery and care.

Have I got a reputation?! Crikey, I've only started a few on my mums net. Are you thinking of my bc days?! Anyway, I support the woman who came over to have her baby. I'd probably do the same if I were her. Don't know how that's bunfighty!
Liza, whether this particular mother goes back to Nigeria or not, would you support women who do come here to have their babies and then return home? I guess that's what I'm really asking.

I wonder what other countries, like Germany or France, do. They won't provide non-emergency treatment without establishing how you will pay, first. I wonder how they deal with getting payment for emergency treatment...

The cynic in me would say that the baby now has dual nationality and a right to reside and who would not let the parents come with them !!!

Interesting point Trazzletoes I wonder how other countries deal with it.

I also wondered how managed to fly being heavily pregnant. I thought that was vetoed?

paulrn the child will only British of one of the parents is either British or has permission to live here permanently. Place of birth has nothing to do with it in this situation.