Why you need to pay more tax

[Ardesco]

Ten years on, spending has risen to £1.6bn, with more than three babies in four delivered to a mother not born overseas.

Shocking. Why do we waste so much money on them?

Wonderful use of statistics. How many of these "women born overseas" are actually British nationals?

[expat]

So you thought that e.g. Polish men and women would come here and work but not have children here?

Come to think of it, I don't think I'd want to have children in this country now.

[Troll]

Here we go again....

Very few Polish are on benefits because they have a work ethic in thier country and they also have some pride. Unlike the waster lower classes in this country....

No problem with the above - but is it right that recent arrivals (and thus little or no contributions to the costs) have instant access to free first world medical facilities?

Labour underestimated the amount who would come here and either thought the current system could absorb the numbers or the demands would be negligible.... now the system is breaking down at the sheer volumes & you can either increase the supply (which will cost more) or restrict availability- which negates the whole concept of the NHS

Also the Polish are not really the main NHS problem - coming from a reasonable level of Westernised heath care - defects will have been dealt with from birth (which is the cheapest way of fixing problems) but those arriving from the third world have untreated congenital abnormalities into adulthood which cause a disproportionate amount of costs trying to fix them, but will have access for free and available right from day 1

Add to all of this those who arrive as health tourists & the question is at what point does this influx place a intolerable strain on the system thereby reducing care for others?
And then the question becomes how much you are prepared to pay.

[TheFaQQer]

No problem with the above - but is it right that recent arrivals (and thus little or no contributions to the costs) have instant access to free first world medical facilities?

Been a while since you've needed a hospital stay on the NHS, has it?

[expat]

"instant access to free first world medical facilities?"

Been a while since you've needed a hospital stay on the NHS, has it?

LOL!

[Troll]

Been a while since you've needed a hospital stay on the NHS, has it?

I never said it was perfect - only that it is first world rather than third...from my personal experiences, the system has worked & I cannot criticise it... although if we were having kids today it may be different due to the strains being put on the system

WHO Healthcare rankings

1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom

37 USA
50 Poland

[gadgetman]

My wife is a midwife and 90%+ of all new bookings she does these days are to immigrants of one sort or another. I am making no judgment, simply stating a fact.

Many of the new patients do not speak English so the clinic has to book an interpreter at £70/hour who has to be paid whether or not the patient turns up.

She and her colleagues are under immense strain to cope with the huge rises in 'demand' on a service which does not have the resources to cope due to poor planning.

Oh and one of these new patients stole a credit and debit card from my wife's handbag last week whilst she was doing a blood test and then went on a shopping spree in Tesco.

[dude69]

Wonderful use of statistics. How many of these "women born overseas" are actually British nationals?

British nationals? What does that mean? Someone whose claimed asylum and got a British passport handed out after 3 years?

[Toffnana]

British nationals? What does that mean? Someone whose claimed asylum and got a British passport handed out after 3 years?

It means women who are British but born abroad (e.g. family in armed forces and posted abroad) would be included in the foreign-born statistic.

Toff

[TheFaQQer]

British nationals? What does that mean? Someone whose claimed asylum and got a British passport handed out after 3 years?

Someone who supports England at cricket.

N. Tebbitt