Expats complaining they have to pay.

[vetran]

NHS slaps British expat couple with £40,000 bill | Daily Mail Online

NHS slaps British expat couple with £40,000 bill for emergency birth while they were on holiday in the UK
Paul Barnes, 33, and his fiancee Sophie Henley, 25, received a £40,000 NHS bill because they live abroad in Zambia so do they not get free NHS treatment
Couple were on holiday in the UK visiting family and friends when complications led to son Archie being delivered seven weeks early by emergency c-section
Archie weighed just 3lbs and has been kept in an intensive care incubator since

Good job NHS now do it to more people!

hmm travelling so close to the due date?

[northernladyuk]

NHS slaps British expat couple with £40,000 bill | Daily Mail Online



Good job NHS now do it to more people!

hmm travelling so close to the due date?

It would be good to see some Mail articles about retired British citizens in Europe sneaking back for free elective NHS treatment. Anecdotally it appears to be very common.

[vetran]

It would be good to see some Mail articles about retired British citizens in Europe sneaking back for free elective NHS treatment. Anecdotally it appears to be very common.

I'm sure it is. This is very similar lets hope everyone who isn't entitled has to pay or get insurance.

No wonder the NHS is suffering.

[ladymuck]

It would be good to see some Mail articles about retired British citizens in Europe sneaking back for free elective NHS treatment. Anecdotally it appears to be very common.

Yep. I actually know people who lived in Spain for ~10 years but remained registered as living in the UK and would travel back here for treatment on the NHS but buy their prescriptions in Spain where it was cheaper...

They refused to register as living in Spain and said that they didn't want to use Spanish doctors because they didn't understand them!

They came back to the UK a good while ago having realised they were getting too old and ill to manage the travel back when they needed it.

[CoolCat]

Yep. I actually know people who lived in Spain for ~10 years but remained registered as living in the UK and would travel back here for treatment on the NHS but buy their prescriptions in Spain where it was cheaper...

They refused to register as living in Spain and said that they didn't want to use Spanish doctors because they didn't understand them!

They came back to the UK a good while ago having realised they were getting too old and ill to manage the travel back when they needed it.

nonsense Spanish docs speak better English than we do, and a lot better English than the average NHS doc

[ladymuck]

nonsense Spanish docs speak better English than we do, and a lot better English than the average NHS doc

I haven't had any direct experience so can't say but I doubt language was a real barrier. They were in Benidorm, not the sticks.

[northernladuk]

hmm travelling so close to the due date?

And it's not like it's just a quick flight to Benidorm either.

[Lockhouse]

ID cards are a great idea. No idea why people are so against them. No UK id or no insurance then no treatment.

[NotAllThere]

NHS slaps British expat couple with £40,000 bill | Daily Mail Online



Good job NHS now do it to more people!

Quite right. I'm surprised they weren't insured. Whenever we visited the UK in the past 16 years, and needed to use NHS services, we always informed them that we are not entitled to free health care.

[BR14]

Quite right. I'm surprised they weren't insured. Whenever we visited the UK in the past 16 years, and needed to use NHS services, we always informed them that we are not entitled to free health care.

People resident in Zambia don't usually have an EHIC card though.