28.08.13
Doctors should not make immigration judgements – BMA
Plans to charge foreign patients more to access healthcare could unintentionally damage the NHS, doctors have warned.
The Department of Health is currently consulting on measures to reduce the economic impact of ‘health tourism’. Proposals include charging patients from outside Europe at least £200 a year until they have been in the country for five years.
Charges currently for hospital care would be extended to GP visits.
The BMA said increasing and extending charges could damage the doctor-patient relationship, risk people not seeking necessary care and cause significant practical difficulties to identify patients eligible for the charges.
In their response to the Government consultation, the BMA said: “Doctors’ primary ethical duty… is to respond to the needs of their patients. It is our view that doctors should not be required to make judgements on the immigration status of patients or their entitlement to treatment under the regulations.”
The plans were labelled “impractical, inefficient, uneconomic and could cause unintended damage to NHS services”.
A DH spokesperson said: “We want to work alongside doctors to bring about improvements, but we must all work together to protect the NHS from costly abuse. We want a system that is fair for the British taxpayer by ensuring that foreign nationals pay for their NHS treatment.”
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