Hospitals to be paid by NHS to claw back fees of treating foreigners

Speaking to a lunch organised by the Parliamentary Press Gallery, he said: “I have no dilemma whatsoever about foreigners making use of our NHS as extended as they contribute to it, both through having to pay taxes or by means of paying out expenses.

“We require to be a lot far better at collecting that revenue so today we are announcing a new scheme to recover money specifically from EU and EEA site visitors.”

Mr Hunt also pointed out that other countries have been very efficient at charging for treating Britons overseas. The current bill was a lot more than £800million a year.

In contrast, he explained, “we acquire a grand total of £29million for EU site visitors and tourists who come here.”

He explained: “We need to be recovering a good deal much more funds, and we really don’t and the explanation is because trusts have no monetary incentive to report an individual as an EU visitor.”

In a later question and solution session, Mr Hunt also said the Coalition would not be bringing in a new levy to force firms to lower ranges of sugar in food items and drinks. He said: “We are not organizing for a sugar tax.”

Mr Hunt was also drawn on no matter whether folks must be capable to charge plastic surgical procedure expenses to the NHS except if there was a clear “clinical need”.

He stated: “We ought to not be performing cosmetic function on the NHS. The selections are taken on a basis of clinical want locally.

“But I have manufactured it clear I am against purely cosmetic function being accomplished. There will be times when there is a psychological wellness need that a local doctor has stated is quite serious but I do recognize people’s reservations about some of the factors that happen.”

Figures disclosed by The Telegraph in December showed that 8,000 people have had “tummy tucks” on the NHS in the past six years, at an estimated price of £50million.

The plastic surgery procedure, which charges up to £6,500 to have privately, is offered largely to obese patients, but also in some instances to ladies who have been left depressed by the effect pregnancy has had on their bodies.

Hospitals to be paid by NHS to claw back fees of treating foreigners