British expats’ £60k ‘ health tourism’ bill for baby born on the NHS
An expat British couple could face a bill of up to £60,000 after their baby son was born prematurely during a trip back to the UK.
Complications led to Sophie Henley, 25, giving birth to baby Archie by emergency C-section seven weeks early while they were visiting family in January.
But because she moved to Zambia in 2014 to join fiance Paul Barnes, 33, and work in the safari industry, they are not eligible for free care.
The pair both hold British passports and return to the UK every year, but have already racked up a £40,000 bill.
This could rise to £60,000 before Archie, who is still in high-dependency care, leaves Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Health bosses say the baby cannot have nHSfunded treatment because his parents reside in southern Africa. The family have had a 150 per cent tariff, designed to stop health tourism, put on their bill as they are not from the European Economic Area.
Friends have launched a campaign, which has raised £4,600 so far, to help Mr Barnes, originally from Coryton, Devon, and Miss Henley, of nottingham.
Mr Barnes said: ‘I’m 100 per cent British. I would never ever renounce my British passport for anything. I feel, and always have felt, British. I was born here and of course so was Archie. We might be residents of Zambia for now, but he isn’t.
‘We paid tax and national Insurance while we worked here, and our families have done so and still do. I feel nervous about my son’s health. I feel that more than anything. I’m worried about the money too. It’s very hard.’
The pair flew back to the UK during the safari ‘ low season’ on December 15 and planned to return on February 5, in time for Archie’s due date on March 13.
But after Miss Henley, who runs a lodge in Zambia, noticed reduced movements she went to Barnstaple Hospital and had an emergency C-section on January 23.
The couple knew they would not be entitled to free nHS care and planned a natural birth in Zambia. They said they were not able to get insurance for Miss Henley prior to travel, as she was expecting.
The birth cost around £5,900 – now owed to Barnstaple Hospital – but Archie spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (nICU) and high-dependency care, costing up to £1,300 a day.
As of February 22, they owed a further £33,700 to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, but Mr Barnes estimates the total bill will be around £60,000 as Archie is not expected to leave for a fortnight.
‘Having a premature baby is difficult anyway,’ he said. ‘We simply don’t have the capacity to pay it all now. I don’t know what happens if we don’t pay it.’
A Royal Devon and Exeter nHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: ‘We are legally obliged to apply appropriate charges for overseas visitors.’