IHS (International Health Service)

[KaiserWilly]

Revealed: 10 most common nationalities of foreign-born mothers who gave birth in NHS hospitals in 2011 | Mail Online

[northernladuk]

I must be a racist cause this makes me very glum to say the least......

[fullyautomatix]

If they are the wives of people who are living here legally and paying the proper taxes, what is the problem ? NI contributions are for free NHS isnt it ? If they are not entitled to free NHS maternity, will the government accept a deduction in NI contributions?

[Platypus]

Unless these non-EU mums are UK resident with all the permits (are any even needed?) then we should charge them for the service they receive.

EDIT, ok I read more,

So called ‘health tourism’ as a whole is thought to cost taxpayers as much as £200million a year..

That's bad.

Urgent treatment, such as maternity care, is provided regardless of residence status or ability to pay but hospitals must take reasonable measures to recover debts from overseas patients if they can trace them.

Oh, clearly, nothing to worry about here.

Some trusts are owed tens of millions by foreign patients and have been forced to write-off some of these debts.

Oh dear.