- Reaction score
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I think it's Hillingdon Hospital in West London that tops the bill for health tourism... being the closest hospital to Heathrow Airport. There was a documentary on a few years ago... it's normal practice for Nigerians (and others) to fly to the UK specifically for difficult childbirths... ones that would cost them money back in Nigeria.From what I've seen all the numbers they have are not by their own admission that accurate. I remember a hospital programme a few years ago that highlighted health tourism 1 patient ran up a £600k bill and another £300k this hospital over the course of a month the total was pushing towards £2m that they knew of mainly because of the level of treatment needed creating large bills the guy chasing payments had a pile of paperwork but on his own was struggling to recover even a small fraction of what was owed
They are well schooled in how the system works... the magic phrase is "I intend to make the UK my permanent home"... once uttered, it's all free !!
I watched one of those Emergency Hospital programmes the other week... there was a Chinese girl in A&E who was knocked off her bicycle I think. In broken English, she kept trying to tell the staff that she had insurance and they should look in her bag for it... but they all had genuine confusion as to why she was talking about insurance... to them it was an anathema ! It's all "free" in the UK !! Come in... everyone... enjoy a health service paid for by the hardworking tax payer !!