Quote:
|
A London hospital has said it will not pursue a Nigerian woman who owes it £145,000 for the cost of giving birth there after she travelled to Britain
|
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/heal...-of-quins.html
Quote:
A NHS hospital failed to chase up a bill of £145,000 it should have charged a Nigerian woman who had quintuplets after travelling to Britain.
Bimbo Ayelabola, 37, underwent a complex caesarean section in 2011 but did not pay any of the cost of the operation and neo-natal care for her five babies.
But it has now emerged that Homerton University Hospital, in east London, will not pursue her for the outstanding bill.
The hospital involved has admitted it sent only one request for payment, more than six months after Miss Ayelabola left the hospital – and had failed to take any further action when it was returned unpaid.
Miss Ayelabola has since returned to her home city of Lagos, where she is a successful make-up artist.
She said: “I have never received my bill. If I had it, I would pay it.”
|
Well why bother wasting money on an airmail stamp, fax or email when there's only £145k at stake? There was I thinking that the NHS was strapped for cash.
Quote:
Homerton Hospital said it would not be contacting Miss Ayelabola for the payment, despite her assertion that she would pay up if she received a bill.
A spokesman said: “If she wishes to contact us, we would urge her to do so…. But we will not be contacting her.”
|
Well maybe if a tad more than the 16% of costs incurred in treating heath tourists were ever chased and recovered, things might be a bit better. It'd be a good start surely and might just put budding health tourists off. I dare say the handling of this incident has served only to make the NHS and even bigger target for them. Great eh! Well done Homerton Hospital! I hope they'll be explaining their decision not to take her up on her offer to all those patients who're struggling to get the treatment they desperately need and are actually entitled to.