Health tourists must now pay upfront
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...e-health-care/

It’s about time. Too many have been takin the p*** and expecting treatment they have no entitlement to.

Cool.

I would love to know how they present themselves at hospital for none A and E
Treatment without first being referred by their doctor and then going through the filter system.
I know it happens, but just don't know how.
I am all for this clamp down. Especially for pregnant women coming over here to give birth.

I don't think there's a lot that can be done in terms of childbirth... All they would have to do is wait until they're in active labour and then call an ambulance. They're not going to be turned away at the door when it could pose a risk to the health of the mother and the baby.

How do you get a non urgent hip operation on the NHS if you are not resident, what resident can present themselves in a clinic without an appointment :shrug: if this is happening its down to poor management and about time it was addressed, the figures involved suggests it's quite commonplace

If a visitor to the UK fell down some stone steps or got hit by a car, I doubt anyone would object to them being patched up, as long as they went home when their holiday was over/as soon as they could after recovering if their hospital stay made them miss a flight.

But yeah I agree with the above, anything other than emergency care should be restricted to long term UK residents.

A tourist would be covered either by EHIC if European or by travel insurance, its the people who come specfically to get a procedure done for free that is the issue here

True, but I was just sayin'. All I meant was that even if EHIC and travel insurance didn't exist, you'd have to look pretty hard to find someone who'd say "he got hit by a car? he's not from here, don't fix his leg" or whatever; whilst objecting to people coming here especially for a new hip is a perfectly valid thing to be against.

I'd hope so, and hope we don't end up with a system like the US, where the advice for tourists if they're injured and require hospital treatment is basically "Call an ambulance, then call a lawyer".