The plan, that will also apply to visitors on temporary work
visas, is meant to get back the over £500million lost every year to treat people
who are not entitled to free NHS care.
Non-EU nationals patients are currently charged 100 per cent
of the cost of their surgery or treatment, however, only a minimum percentage
of the amount is actually recovered.
According to Mr Hunt, there is an awful lot of pressure on
the frontline because the NHS does not chase up these money, which could pay for
thousands of extra doctors and nurses
and that would make a massive difference to members of the staff who are working very hard.
Mark
Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association Council, questioned
the new plan by highlighting that doctors are only supposed to
treat patients, not to act as border guards.
But the Health Secretary answered: “Anyone who is in need of emergency treatment, whether at a GP surgery
or at an A&E department, should get
it without delay and that will not change at all. We have also made it clear
that we don’t want to turn GPs into bodyguards, but want to make sure
that we have a system where if someone isn’t actually entitled to free NHS
care, they don’t automatically get a full NHS number, because one of the abuses
at the moment is that anyone at all can go to a GP surgery and register and get
a full NHS number, which is a passport to complete free care”.
Under the new scheme, foreign patients will pay over £2,200 for
having a baby, £2,800 for cataract and
nearly £12,900 for a hip replacement.
Hospitals which fail to charge these patients, will face fines.
“We
don’t mind international visitors using
the NHS but if they’re not making a contribution through the taxes, then they
should make a fare contribution through
charges”, Mr Hunt said.
He added that the plan does not imply collecting every
single penny of it but as much as possible to make a real difference to people
working very hard on the frontline.
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