Latest news with #NHSBusinessServicesAuthority
The Sun
01-08-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Almost one million NHS ‘free passes' handed out to asylum seekers
ALMOST one million NHS 'free passes' have been handed to asylum seekers in five years, stats reveal. Some 920,199 HC2 certificates — granting free prescriptions, dental care, eye tests, wigs and travel to appointments — were issued. That is 59 per cent of all HC2 forms dished out from 2019 to 2024, despite asylum seekers making up less than one per cent of the population. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'No wonder illegal immigrants from across Europe are flocking here.' The certificates include up to £233 for specs and unlimited dental work. Anyone can apply if they have little or no income. Asylum seekers automatically receive one if they qualify for Section 95 support, which covers housing and financial help. An NHS spokesman said: 'The NHS is legally required to provide healthcare services to asylum seekers, including access to help with health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme.' A Government spokesman said most were issued 'under the previous administration'. The figures were uncovered via a Freedom of Information request to the NHS Business Services Authority. 25K migrants have arrived across the Channel so far this year despite Labour's promise to crackdown 1
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Asylum seekers handed almost one million NHS 'free passes' in the last five years
Asylum seekers have been handed almost one million NHS 'free passes' in the last five years, official new data reveals. The HC2 certificates give Britons on low incomes the right to free health services that most people would have to pay for. This includes prescriptions, dental care, eye tests, wigs, and discounts for glasses, contact lenses, and travelling to and from appointments. But figures released under freedom of information laws show most of the 1.56 million issued across the UK since 2020 were awarded to asylum seekers. They accounted for 920,199, or 59 per cent, of the certificates awarded over this period the NHS Business Services Authority told the Telegraph. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the figures 'are another illustration of the costs of illegal immigration'. 'Those crossing the Channel invariably claim asylum, and then receive housing, bills paid, free money and full healthcare – despite never having paid a penny in tax and having entered the country illegally,' he said. 'No wonder illegal immigrants from across Europe are flocking to the UK.' Anyone who can demonstrate they have a low or no income can apply for an HC2 certificate regardless of their immigration status. Asylum seekers are automatically given one if they are eligible for 'section 95 support' under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, which means they are entitled to claim financial and housing assistance. Other migrants claiming asylum are able to apply for it, depending on the levels of support they are receiving. Conservative MP Steve Barclay, a former health secretary, said it was 'an abuse of taxpayer funds' and 'completely wrong that asylum seekers are receiving beneficial access to health treatment compared to the taxpayers who fund it'. The certificate provides 'full help with health costs', such as unlimited dental care and prescriptions, vouchers worth up to £233 to spend on glasses, as well as refunds on any travel costs to hospital appointments. The cost of a prescription for a British resident is £9.90 if they have no other exemption, while the most basic NHS dentist check-up is £27.40. Dental treatments cost hundreds of pounds more. A simple NHS eye test costs £23.55, while wigs and fabric supports, which can be given to patients with hair loss because of alopecia or cancer treatment, can cost in excess of £300. Asylum seekers must renew their certificates every six months, rather than the 12 months that applies to other UK residents. But holders are able to continue using their certificate to get all costs covered until it expires, even if their circumstances change. Anyone with an HC2 form can also get free care for their partner and children or dependents up to the age of 18. There have been 317,000 claims for asylum from migrants within the UK over the same period, which is double the number in the previous five years, between 2015 and 2019. New data released on Thursday revealed that 25,000 migrants had crossed the English Channel on small boats in 2025, hitting the milestone earlier in the year than ever before. An NHS spokesperson said: 'The NHS is legally required to provide healthcare services to asylum seekers, including access to help with health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme.' A government spokesperson said: 'We are fixing the chaotic asylum system we inherited and have returned over 35,000 people, including failed asylum seekers, immigrants and foreign national offenders to ultimately relieve pressures on nationwide services. 'These certificates do not give access to NHS services ahead of people who don't have one. 'The highest number of certificates issued in the last five years were under the previous administration.'
Telegraph
01-08-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Asylum seekers handed almost one million NHS ‘free passes'
Almost one million NHS 'free passes' have been given out to asylum seekers in the last five years. The HC2 certificates give low-income residents the right to freebies not afforded to most of the public, including free prescriptions, dental care, eye tests, wigs, and discounts for glasses, contact lenses, and travelling to and from appointments. But new data released by the NHS Business Services Authority under freedom of information laws, reveal that the majority – 59 per cent – of the 1.56 million issued across the UK in the last five years, 920,199 were awarded to asylum seekers. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the figures 'are another illustration of the costs of illegal immigration '. 'Those crossing the Channel invariably claim asylum, and then receive housing, bills paid, free money and full healthcare – despite never having paid a penny in tax and having entered the country illegally,' he said. 'No wonder illegal immigrants from across Europe are flocking to the UK.' Anyone can apply for the NHS low-income scheme to get a HC2 certificate regardless of their immigration status, as long as they can demonstrate they have low or no income. Asylum seekers are automatically given a HC2 certificate if they are eligible for 'section 95 support' under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, which means they are entitled to claim financial and housing assistance. Other migrants claiming asylum are able to apply for it, depending on the levels of support they are receiving. Steve Barclay, the former health secretary, said it was ' an abuse of taxpayer funds ' and 'completely wrong that asylum seekers are receiving beneficial access to health treatment compared to the taxpayers who fund it'. The certificate provides 'full help with health costs', such as unlimited dental care and prescriptions, vouchers worth up to £233 to spend on glasses, as well as refunds on any travel costs to hospital appointments. Asylum seekers must renew their certificates every six months, rather than the 12 months that applies to other UK residents, making it hard to know the exact number of people claiming. 'Unbalanced and unfair' Dr Sean Phillips, head of health at the Policy Exchange think tank, said the numbers 'just beg the question: who is the NHS for? 'When we recall, asylum seekers make up less than 1 per cent of the total population – for the majority of HC2 certificates to be issued to this group feels completely unbalanced, even unfair, given the levels of hardship felt more widely across the country,' he said. There have been 317,000 claims for asylum from migrants within the UK over the same period, which is double the number in the previous five years, between 2015 and 2019. New data released on Thursday revealed that 25,000 migrants had crossed the English Channel on small boats in 2025, hitting the milestone earlier in the year than ever before. Many migrants who arrive in the UK then seek asylum while housed in hotels, bed and breakfasts or other temporary accommodation on taxpayer expense. They are then able to get the full cost of their healthcare needs covered by British taxpayers. While there are no public figures available on the average cost to the taxpayer, it is easy to see how quickly it might rack up. The cost of a prescription for a British resident is £9.90 if they have no other exemption, while the most basic NHS dentist check-up is £27.40 for those able to find a practice taking on NHS patients, and that's before the costs of any treatments – which often reach hundreds of pounds – are factored in. A simple NHS eye test costs £23.55, while glasses or contact lenses are also likely to cost hundreds depending on the patient's prescription. Wigs and fabric supports, which can be given to patients with hair loss as a result of alopecia or cancer treatment, can cost in excess of £300. Anyone with an HC2 form can also get free care for their partner and children or dependents up to the age of 18. Even if circumstances change, people are able to continue using the certificates to get all costs covered until it expires. Mr Barclay, who is the Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, said it also 'completely directly undermines our democracy given previous health ministers made clear this practice was an abuse of the rules'. He added: 'It is outrageous that some health bosses are pushing their own Left-wing political agenda, wasting taxpayer funds, and reducing the funds available for treating local residents, and that NHS England, who is operationally responsible for these services, is once again failing to do its job. 'The Health Select Committee should summon those responsible for these programmes before Parliament to hold them to account for this abuse of taxpayer funds.' An NHS spokesman said: 'The NHS is legally required to provide healthcare services to asylum seekers, including access to help with health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme.'
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Retired NHS workers on six-figure pensions reaches record high
The number of retired NHS workers picking up six-figure pensions has reached a record high after increasing tenfold in the last decade. More than 3,000 former health service employees are being paid an annual pension of more than £100,000, up by 64pc compared with a year ago. Campaigners are now calling on Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, to overhaul the 'unfunded and gold-plated' NHS pension scheme. The latest figures from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) show the cost of its pensions is now at £12bn per year, with 1.1m former staff qualifying for the retirement payments. It means there are 47,267 former NHS staff being paid pensions worth more than £50,000 per year, up by 15pc from last year. Of those, 3,126 are picking up more than £100,000 this year. Last year, the figure stood at 1,909. A decade ago, the number of former NHS staff with a pension of £50,000 per year or more was just 19,886 and the number getting £100,000 or more was limited to just 285 people. In the private sector a person would need on average a pension pot of around £3m in order to be able to settle down with an inflation linked six-figure pension income. Government officials said part of the reason for the rapid rise in the numbers of people with the biggest pensions may be linked to higher inflation. This is because the pensions are index-linked, meaning the higher the inflation, the more the amount of pension increases the following year. Higher earning employees within the NHS – typically GPs and consultants – have to contribute 12.5pc of their earnings to be included in the pension scheme. But for NHS pensions there is no pool of contributions building up over time. The payments are made up from the salary deductions from people currently working in the NHS as well as additional payments to top the scheme up from central government. Critics of the NHS retirement scheme say its generosity creates a financial time bomb with 2.5m members expecting a pension from it in the future. John O'Connell, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, a campaign group, said: 'There is now an extraordinary elite of NHS retirees who rake in massive pension payments every year, not paid out of retirement pots but instead out of the pockets of working taxpayers. 'That's because NHS employees, like in much of the public sector, get access to gold-plated and unfunded defined benefit schemes which are now almost absent in the private sector. 'As part of his plan to radically reform the NHS Wes Streeting should move all new staff onto fully-funded, defined contribution schemes.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'The NHS Pension Scheme provides generous retirement benefits for hard-working staff after a lifetime of service, and the scheme was comprehensively reformed in 2015 to ensure the costs are sustainable. 'Staff and employers are required to pay contributions that meet the full cost of the benefits being built up, with higher earners paying proportionately more than other members.'
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The London area with the best NHS dentist access in England
North west London is the area with the best access to NHS dentists in England, figures suggest. Meanwhile, the British Dental Association warns that the NHS dentistry service "has effectively ceased to exist for millions". It comes a few days after the Government rolled out 700,000 extra urgent dentist appointments in 'dental deserts' where patients struggle to access dental care. Figures from the NHS Business Services Authority, an arm's length body of the Department of Health and Social Care, show there were 1,427 dentists working in the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board area in 2023-24. It means there were 67 dentists per 100,000 people in the area – up slightly from 66 the year before, and from 65 in 2019-20. Across England, there was an average 42 dentists per 100,000 people in 2023-24, which was in line with the previous year, but down from a rate of 44 in 2019-20. READ MORE: Barnet man jailed for 14 years after removing condom during sex READ MORE: 75-year-old who died after attack named for first time as 3 teenage girls charged with manslaughter There were also significant disparities in access to dental care across the country – Norfolk and Waveney counted 31 dentists per 100,000 population last year for instance. BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: "Access to NHS dentistry has always been a postcode lottery, but the chances of your numbers coming up are now more remote than ever. This reality is this service has effectively ceased to exist for millions." Mr Crouch urged the Government to fund its pledge to rebuild the NHS dentistry service, which includes the roll out of extra urgent dentist appointments as well as supervised toothbrushing in schools. "Only then will this service have a future," he added. Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, warned NHS dentistry is "leaving patients struggling to get the care they need". She said dental care appointments are "simply out of reach" in certain areas, leading to "serious consequences" for people's dental health. Separate NHS BSA figures show only 41 per cent of adults in north west London saw a dentist in the past two years, and 56 per cent of children in the area had a dental appointment in the last 12 months. In England, around 41 per cent of adults had an appointment in the past two years, and about 56 per cent of children did so in the last year. NHS England's guideline states most adults should see a dentist every two years, and children should go no longer than a year without a dental check-up. Dr Nigel Carter, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation, said regional inequalities in access to NHS dental services are "shocking" as dental care should be "available at the point of need". He explained dental conditions such as rotting teeth could be prevented with more regular check-ups but warned "it is not something which can now be fixed overnight". Dr Carter added: "Currently the NHS contract is not fit for purpose for either the public or profession leading to a crumbling system." An NHS spokesperson said: "The NHS is determined to improve access to dental care, and that's why we are working to incentivise dentists to work in underserved areas to ensure people in all areas of the country can receive the care they need. But there is more to do and we are working with local systems to provide 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments and with the Government to reform the dental contract and shape the upcoming 10-year plan to improve our services for patients." Stay in the loop with the latest North London news. Sign up for our MyNorthLondon newsletter HERE to get daily updates and more.
