Latest news with #MagnusHarrison
The Guardian
13-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Asylum seeker billed £10,000 for NHS maternity care ‘could only afford penny a month'
A destitute asylum seeker who was billed more than £10,000 for having a baby could afford to pay just a penny a month, leading to calls for an urgent review of NHS maternity charging for migrants. Kim, 34, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was invoiced and then contacted by a debt collection agency after having an emergency caesarean section. Asylum seekers, who receive around £7 a day per person for food, clothing, communication and toiletries, with small 'healthy food' top-ups for mothers of young children, are exempt from charges under the NHS cost recovery programme. The scheme was first introduced by a Conservative government 10 years ago this month, targeting overseas visitors and migrants. However, many women entitled to free NHS maternity care are being wrongly charged, pregnancy charity Maternity Action said. Kim's case was complicated by changes in her migration status. She first claimed asylum in the UK in 2017 after a crackdown on government critics in Zimbabwe, her country of birth, but was refused. In 2021 she became pregnant and made a fresh asylum application, having struggled to do so earlier, she said, because of the pandemic. After the birth of her daughter in March 2022, when she had an active asylum claim and should have been exempt, Kim was invoiced for maternity care by Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust (LTHT) for £10,703.23. The trust later told a debt collection agency that she owed an additional £3,450 relating to previous inpatient care for mobility problems that occurred after her first asylum application had been refused. Kim, supported by the early parenthood charity National Childbirth Trust (NCT), wrote to LTHT saying: 'I am forbidden by law from working and do not have a bank account. 'I would like to propose repayment of £0.01p a month. I am embarrassed that I cannot offer greater contribution … even this will be a stretch. A requirement to pay more than this will put me under significant pressure to obtain money unlawfully.' LTHT has now apologised to Kim 'for any distress caused', confirming they 'cancelled' the invoices once they received 'updated information demonstrating her eligibility'. The trust's chief medical officer, Magnus Harrison, added: 'Where a patient has accrued charges for NHS treatment and their eligibility later changes, previous charges still apply. If a patient is deemed destitute or at risk of imminent destitution then the trust may choose not to pursue the debt for the time being.' It is recommended in the UK that pregnant women have an initial antenatal appointment before 10 weeks, but fear of charges meant Kim did not seek antenatal care until four months, encouraged by NCT. 'The danger is that incorrect implementation of the rules deters women from seeking appropriate antenatal and postnatal care,' Judith Dennis, Maternity Action's head of policy, said. 'This has serious implications for maternity safety (and) the health of women and babies.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Anna Miller, Doctors of the World's head of policy, said charging migrants meant babies whose parents had been here for years were 'born into debt', with no evidence of the cost-effectiveness of a policy that led to 'people avoiding treatment' until crisis. Describing the impact of being charged, Kim said: 'I really felt depressed … where am I going to get this money? I was still a new mum, breastfeeding as well … you're trying to heal from a caesarean and then there's a bill, there's a small child as well.' Kim remains in asylum accommodation, where residents have complained of mould and cockroaches, awaiting a decision on her claim and attending college, hoping to study nursing. The NCT is calling for the impact of maternity charging to be examined and for access to interpreters and 'secure housing' for pregnant women who are migrants. The NCT head of programmes, Helen Lloyd, said: 'The threat of NHS charging creates a hostile environment for pregnant women with unclear immigration status.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Asylum accommodation is required to meet strict standards, and regular inspections are conducted to ensure these are maintained. 'The NHS is a residency based system and it is only right that those who are not lawfully settled here, or exempt from charge, should contribute to the cost of their care.'
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Overseas staff 'invaluable' at hospitals in Leeds
Overseas staff working for hospitals in Leeds are "invaluable" in the day-to-day running of health services, according to the trust's chief medical Magnus Harrison described international recruitment as a "two-way street" that helped to fill gaps in the organisation but also offered good career one in five Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust staff are non-British workers, which is broadly in line with the NHS average in government said recruiting talent from around the world made the NHS "stronger", but added it was also committed to developing "home-grown talent". In total, about 22,000 members of staff work across seven hospital sites in Leeds, representing at least 129 different vast majority are British, with about 4,500 from other Sidique, who moved to Leeds from Pakistan three years ago, works on an urgent care ward at St James's University 32-year-old charge nurse described his job as "superb" and said he partly chose the UK because he wanted to work for the NHS."It was very difficult to decide which country to go to, but in the end I decided for the UK because there are more learning opportunities here," he said."If somebody is coming from a different country, different culture, different tradition, different people, it's difficult – but I haven't faced any problems as people are wonderful."NHS England has about 1.5m staff, according to workforce data, with more than 311,000 non-British. While many overseas staff are recruited to fill vacancies, others come to the UK for training opportunities or Mohammad Yousef, 31, was sponsored by the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Jordan to spend a year at St James's University Hospital for anaesthetics training."Back In Jordan they trust the NHS," he said."They send doctors to get the experience and to get that experience back and practise it on our patients." Dr Harrison said it would be "really difficult" to run some of the trust's services if it didn't have international staff."We have areas where we struggle to recruit, and our overseas colleagues help fill those gaps for us," he said."It's a two-way street – we benefit but hopefully our overseas colleagues benefit as well."Sarah Dodsworth, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) regional director, said international nurses played a "vital and valuable" role but the NHS had become "over reliant" on overseas workers."The route to adequate staffing is to ensure that nursing is an attractive profession," she said. "This can only be achieved by ensuring fair pay, addressing staffing shortfalls and attracting students."The Nuffield Trust think tank echoed the RCN viewpoint and asked the government to look for "bold solutions to shore up our domestic supply of healthcare workers".Immigration explained: Migrants, refugees, and visas definedA Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The NHS has always drawn on talent from around the world. "The service is stronger for it and millions of patients are grateful for the skilled and compassionate care they have received from staff from overseas."They added: "This government is also committed to developing our own home-grown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our NHS by training thousands more doctors and nurses."Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
