The 'health tourist' travelled more than 3,000 miles from her home country to the cash-strapped Wythenshawe Hospital for an emergency caesarean.

It is understood the woman, who was educated at top US university Harvard, flew to Manchester Airport and went directly to the hospital where she told doctors she required the procedure after a scan in Nigeria revealed complications in her pregnancy.

Health minister Simon Burns said the NHS is not there to 'serve the health needs of the globe' and said the government is reviewing the system to prevent inappropriate access to NHS resources.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, the MP for nearby Leigh, also called for an inquiry into the case.

Nationally the NHS treats thousands of patients from outside the European Union who are not entitled to free care and in 2010/11 NHs hospitals charged overseas visitors over £23m for treatment and wrote off under £7m of debts.

fstranger:

person!

the uk has universal health care. thats why they are complaining

whats the Harvard connection?

ekt_bear:

Of what relevance is universal health care in the case of a health tourist?

"Universal" in this case refers to presumably some large subset of UK citizens. Not all of humanity..

ekt_bear: No offense, but if you want to one day be viewed as credible in the medical industry, you should try to avoid saying id1otic things like what you just said.

It isn't a good look for someone who wants to have a medical career to not understand universal healthcare.

ekt_bear:

Of what relevance is universal health care in the case of a health tourist?

"Universal" in this case refers to presumably some large subset of UK citizens. Not all of humanity..

Kobojunkie: I don't believe it is the case that the UKs Universal HealthCare plan applies to all, including foreigners. She probably paid out of pocket for it. People who go to the UK for medical care, and are not citizens pay for their healthcare out of pocket.

A hospital source described her a "health tourist" and said she had required resources, including midwives, two urology consultants, a radiology consultant, two obstetric consultants and two anaesthetists in the delivery room. The treatment cost around £10,000.

Mother and baby were released from hospital this week, it is understood and she has flown home with her baby. The hospital will now try to bill her for treatment but it has no powers to force her to pay.

A hospital spokesman said: "At Wythenshawe, as with all hospital trusts across the UK, the care we deliver to all patients is free at the point of delivery. If a patient is a non-UK resident and treatment is considered necessary or urgent then treatment would never be withheld." The hospital adheres to guidelines issued by the Department of Health over reclaiming costs from non-UK residents who use its services.

As soon as a non-UK patient arrives, the finance team are alerted and the individual is made aware, where applicable, of the costs they are liable for as outlined in the national tariff.

"Every effort is then made to pursue any monies owed."

A hospital source claimed it is targeted by health tourists because of its close proximity to the airport - just over two miles away.

A ‘health tourist’ from Nigeria who flew thousands of miles to have her baby at a Manchester hospital has paid back more than half her bill.

The woman had travelled more than 3,000 miles from her home country to Wythenshawe Hospital for an emergency Caesarean.

It is understood that she went directly to the hospital after landing at Manchester Airport and told doctors she needed the procedure after a scan in her home country showed complications.

Her case – revealed by the M.E.N. in August – led to the government promising to review the system to prevent inappropriate access to NHS resources.

Health minister Simon Burns said that the NHS was not there to ‘serve the health needs of the globe’ – and vowed to crack down on the problem.

Now the M.E.N. has learned that the woman – who was educated at top US university Harvard – has paid £3,000 towards her care and will pay the remaining £2,000 over the next few months.

A hospital spokesman said: “The trust has had regular communication with the patient since the birth of her child and she has always declared her intention to pay for the costs of treatment. Sixty per cent of the bill – £3,000 – has been paid, and an arrangement has been made to collect the remaining 40 per cent in instalments over the coming months.

“We adhere to guidelines issued by the Department to Health to reclaim costs from non-UK residents who use our services. As soon as a non-UK patient arrives, our finance team are alerted and the individual is made aware, where applicable, of the costs they are liable for as outlined in the Department of Health’s national tariff. Every effort is then made to pursue any monies owed.”

New figures, obtained by Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, show that hospitals in Greater Manchester are owed £1.27m by foreign patients.

Pennine Acute Trust, which runs hospitals in Rochdale, Oldham, Bury and north Manchester, is owed £805,000.

Central Manchester Hospitals is owed £295,221, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust £67,503, Tameside £36,842, Wythenshawe £34,000, Salford Royal £27,707, and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh £10,860. The Royal Bolton did not respond to a request for information.

According to government statistics, ‘health tourism’ cost the NHS £6.9m last year – with thousands of patients returning home without paying their treatment bills.

Mr Stringer has now promised to raise the issue with ministers – and is calling for a crackdown. He said: “People who are not entitled to free care under the NHS should pay up front – it’s as simple as that.”

A Pennine Acute Trust said: “Under Department of Health policy on overseas visitors, we have an obligation to treat overseas visitors who require immediate treatment.

“The majority of outstanding debt still owed to the trust relates to urgent care cases where all avenues to recover these monies have been exhausted.”

ekt_bear: No offense, but if you want to one day be viewed as credible in the medical industry, you should try to avoid saying id1otic things like what you just said.

It isn't a good look for someone who wants to have a medical career to not understand universal healthcare.

seanet01: Hmm, u are wicked. Okay be like say the guy dey talk about the princeton school one day if i could recollect very. Fake Doctors abound worldwide. Lol