The introduction of new ID checks and upfront charges for patients who are not eligible for free NHS care should be revoked, or at least delayed, until it is clear how the rules will operate, a leading refugee charity has said.
“These changes have been brought in with very little scrutiny or debate and with a lack of clarity about how they are to be implemented. Yet again, the burden falls on the people who are the most vulnerable,” said Sarah Teather, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). The rules raise “really grave issues of an ethical and medical nature, as the Government is using them as a form of border control”, she added. Under the system, designed to reduce so-called health tourism, medical staff must ensure patients in England are eligible for free healthcare before they provide treatment. If they are not, patients will be required to pay an upfront charge. The measures apply to non-urgent care and may lead to an identification-checking scheme, currently being tested in a number of hospitals.
The Government says that the changes will contribute to some of the millions of pounds of savings needed in the NHS, by reducing the number of overseas patients using the health service.
The JRS is one of a number of critics, including other charities and medical professionals, who recently signed a letter to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, warning the new rules will prevent vulnerable people getting the treatment they need. There is also confusion over how rules should be applied in individual cases, said Ms Teather.
The Health Minister Lord O’Shaughnessy said: “We have no problem with overseas visitors using our NHS as long as they make a fair financial contribution, just as the British taxpayer does.”
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