Patients from abroad leave unpaid NHS bill of £3.2m
SCOTLAND’S NHS is owed more than £3.2million from overseas patients who have not paid for treatment.
MSPs have now called for changes to the way health boards identify those who are not entitled to care.
They said cash-strapped boards are missing ‘vital sums of money’ from visitors who received NHS care but have not paid for it.
Anybody in Scotland may access services at a GP practice and receive A&E treatment without charge. But some visitors are supposed to pay for non-emergency care.
A report by Holyrood’s health committee found a ‘varied and inconsistent approach’ from boards, with some not reclaiming costs from those not entitled to free care.
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre calculated that over the past five years the amount outstanding to boards from non-EU nationals exceeds £3.2million.
Committee convener Lewis Macdonald said: ‘The committee supports the principle that anybody in Scotland can access GP services or A&E departments free of charge when needed.
‘However, we are concerned that NHS boards are missing out on vital sums of money to which they are due by not being able to identify those entitled to NHS care.
‘We believe the Scottish Government should begin a review of the situation immediately and have asked them to adopt a more unified approach.
‘Our research has also shown that the prices charged for NHS services to those not entitled to them vary considerably across the country without any justification.’
EU visitors are entitled to free treatment if they have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The UK also has healthcare arrangements for visitors from some non-EU countries including Australia, Kosovo, Serbia and New Zealand.
These entitle visitors to various levels of free healthcare, from emergency-only to the same full entitlement as a UK resident.
Those visiting from countries without reciprocal health arrangements are supposed to pay for any non-emergency NHS care unless they have medical insurance. But some boards are not ‘identifying’ these patients.
Evidence gathered by the committee also shows that
‘Missing out on vital sums’
not all health boards claim back 25 per cent of treatment costs of EHIC card holders.
Following the committee’s work, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has now claimed more than £200,000, with fur- ther retrospective claims available to them.
However, there are concerns that GPs may be referring patients for non-emergency hospital appointments without checking if they are entitled to free NHS care.
GP surgeries are not required to carry out proof-of-address checks.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We manage overseas visitors’ healthcare though an effective combination of regulations and guidance and Scotland does not have a significant problem with visitors using the NHS inappropriately.
‘Health Boards have processes in place to ensure that people pay for services when they are liable to do so – and in the majority of cases this happens.’