mikelincs

I'm certain it is becoming more commonplace, especially with all the government comments about 'Health Tourism'.

GPs areworried that it adds more time to checking a patient. However there is a simple solution. ID cards, these would show you were entitled to free treatment, and anyone without one would be charged.

roaringmouse

As others have said, NHS hospitals are increasingly requesting confirmation of residency status.

This happened earlier this year for my wife. We moved back to the UK at the end of summer 2012, currently she's pregnant (due quite soon) and the hospital wrote to her with a provisional invoice requesting proof of residency in order to cancel that invoice as she hadn't been in the UK for the previous 12 months. Fortunately she has indefinite leave (obtained under the old spouse visa rules) that we sent a copy of, and we haven't left the country since our arrival.

We sent the proof back pretty quickly and haven't heard anything since.

WEBlue

ID cards would seem to help more easily identify who is UK resident and thus "entitled" to free NHS services. I think several EU nations--Belgium and Spain come to mind--have had ID cards for decades, as well as other countries around the world of course.

roaringmouse

An ID card wouldn't be able to tell you if someone had since moved away from the UK. There are also issues surrounding cloning and bogus ones being manufactured.

formula

True, I think that is why part of the immigration bill is designed to tackle health tourism in another way i.e. time limits on NHS numbers; having to show more proof that you are actually a resident (and legal) in the UK; making it easier to collect payment of NHS bills; some visa holders to pay some towards the NHS, as an add on on their visa.

They were already sorting out the old NHS numbers and now it becomes clearer why they were doing this.

The consultation the government ran on the NHS was quite revealing and perhaps a glimpse of the future plans to protect Britain's NHS from abuse?

WEBlue

Would it not be able to tell if one's residence was truly in the UK if it were linked to a national database as proposed?

formula

They don't seem to planning on letting every resident have NHS for free. They have already said before; many times; that they want to return the National Health Service to the National Health Service and not the World Health Service it had now become.

When this government got in and launched a website on what the county wanted them to do, protecting the NHS tab seem to have the most response: with plenty of suggestions!

roaringmouse

The last government attempted a national database for NHS records - great idea, but didn't exactly go smoothly. The current government is attempting to get a single database for most benefit claims - much smaller than what the health database would have been, yet are hugely failing in this.

UK governments just don't seem to have a good track record in building national databases with any usable information in them.

formula

They do have it though.

It's so easy to track where people have been. Just look at all that scandle over Baked Bean tins.

roaringmouse

A very cut down version of it, and I don't think all records have been transferred to it yet. Also only covers England due to the National Health Service being made up of several "National" Health Services.

formula

I just had pointed out to me: we already have residents in the UK who are not allowed free NHS under the present rules.

formula

I think you had a choice of going on this list? You could opt out, if you wrote to your GP before they transferred their records over.

holly_1948

Information is here:
http://www.thebigoptout.com/how-to-opt-out/

Basically, in order to opt out of having the NHS selling your information to commercial advertisers your have to write three separate letters to three separate parts of the NHS.

Not any or every commercial spammer can buy your records from the NHS - they have to be a supplier goods or services to the NHS under a formally signed contract to in order to qualify. And they can only use it to advertise medical goods or services to you.

It would be illegal under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (nothing to do with the European Union by the way, and pre-dates the EU). It would be except that a (well hidden) opt out opportunity exists.

holly_1948

That's interesting.

In what kind of circumstances does that arise?
Gypsies and travellers with no fixed abode perhaps?

holly_1948

The present government was elected on a manifesto promise that UK Identity Cards would be abolished. Much the same thing happened in 1951.

It is clear that the British people do not want an identity card society and any politicians that advocate contrariwise are unlikely to be reelected.

We need to move away from, not further towards, a police state in which government spies on everyone and no-one trusts the local police any more.