ID Checks for Pregnant NHS Patients Considered

A London hospital considers ID checks for pregnant women to prove they are eligible for free NHS treatment.

10:15 12 October 2016

London’s St George’s is considering ID checks for pregnant patients to help tackle health tourism. It clarified that the plan would only be for non-urgent patients – emergency cases would get automatic care.

 

Currently, antenatal ward staff asks patients to fill in forms with proof of eligibility including passport details or other ID. However, some patients leave these parts of the form blank.

 

A spokesman for St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "Like many London Trusts, we treat a high number of patients from overseas who are not eligible for NHS treatment.

 

"The guidelines state that hospitals should endeavour to check patients for their eligibility when accessing non-emergency NHS treatment. We are not doing this effectively enough at present, and are looking at ways in which we can improve this."

 

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts in England are legally obliged to check whether patients are eligible for non-emergency NHS treatment free at the point of use, and recover costs from the overseas patients who are not normally resident in the UK where charges apply. We welcome St George's pilot to test new processes to recoup costs from overseas patients and look forward to the results."