NHS slaps British expat couple with £40,000 bill for emergency birth while they were on holiday in the UK – Daily Mail
A British expat couple are facing an NHS bill of £40,000 after their baby was born prematurely while on a trip home to England.
Paul Barnes, 33, moved to Zambia a decade ago and was joined by his fiancee Sophie Henley, 25, in 2014.
Every year they travel home to the UK to spend Christmas with their family and friends.
It was during a trip home that things took an unexpected turn and baby Archie was born seven weeks early in January.
Archie weighed just 3lbs and has been kept in an intensive care incubator since January 23 suffering from breathing problems.
However the couple have been told they will have to pay for the bill.
As of February 22 this stands at £40,000, and they have been told they have to pay a 150 per cent tariff as they are not from the European Economic Area.
They fear it could rise to £60,000 before Archie leaves specialist care at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
The pair are both British citizens – and have paid years of tax and NI contributions – but because they are no longer residents, they don’t qualify for free NHS treatment.
Mr Barnes, who will have to leave his family and return to Zambia to work in the coming weeks, said: ‘I’m 100% British. I would never ever renounce my British passport for anything.
‘I feel, and always have felt, British. I was born here and of course so was Archie. We might be residents of Zambia for now, but he isn’t.
Within the UK, free NHS treatment is provided on the basis of someone being ‘ordinarily resident’.
Most people, who live or work in another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland will continue to get free NHS care using a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued by the country in which they live. This means the NHS can reclaim healthcare costs from the original country of residence.
However, people who live elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland who are not working and are under the UK retirement age should either use their EHIC if they’re entitled to one, or make sure they have health insurance if they need NHS care when visiting England. Otherwise they will have to pay for their care. This includes former UK residents.
People who live outside the EEA, including former UK residents, should make sure they are covered by personal health insurance, unless an exemption applies to them. Anyone who does not have insurance will be charged at 150% of the NHS national tariff for any care they receive.
‘We paid tax and National Insurance while we worked here, and our families have done so and still do so.’
‘I feel many things at the moment. I hate having to ask people for money. It’s nothing I have ever done before.
‘I feel nervous about my son’s health. I feel that more than anything. I’m worried about the money too. It’s very hard.’
Mr Barnes met Miss Henley when she travelled to Zambia for work and she moved to Africa to join him in 2014.
They flew back to the UK to see family for the safari ‘low season’ on December 15, planning to return on February 5 in time for Archie’s due date on March 13.
But when Miss Henley, who runs a lodge in Zambia, noticed reduced movements she went to Barnstaple Hospital where she was given an emergency C-section on January 23.
The couple knew they would not be entitled to free NHS care, and planned a natural birth in Zambia.
They said they were not able to get insurance for Sophie prior to travel, as she was already expecting.
The birth cost around £5,900 – now owed to Barnstaple Hospital – but Archie needed NICU and high dependency care, costing up to £1,300 a day.
As of February 22, they owed a further £33,700 to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, but Mr Barnes fears the total bill will be around £60,000.
The bill rises with every day he spends in hospital, and he is not expected to leave until he has reached his due date.
He is also back in the high dependency unit currently with prematurity-related heart problems.
‘It’s been a tough time,’ said Mr Barnes. ‘Having a premature baby is difficult anyway.
‘We simply don’t have the capacity to pay it all now. I don’t know what happens if we don’t pay it – different people are saying different things.
‘But we have been speaking to the financier here and she said we will go on some sort of payment plan. I don’t know what happens if we just say we can’t pay it.’
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Blog originally published by Daily Mail.
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