34 EWN
6 - 12 September 2012
www.euroweeklynews.com
Costa Blanca North
UK health tourism and compensation culture frustration I
AM angry – again - so angry, I need to lie down in a dark room and let my heart rate stabilise a bit. Meanwhile, why not flick ahead to the sudoku page or go and make that cup of tea … Hey, me again. Apologies for the short break but pleased to report the heart rate’s just about stabilised. But why so angry? The reason is the article I just read about yet another Nigerian ‘health tourist’ who went to the UK for an emergency caesarean on the NORA JOHNSON NHS. This heavilypregnant woman, Nora, who has lived on the Costa del Sol for a number of years, is the author of psychological educated at suspense and crime thrillers. Harvard, flew to Manchester Airport more than 3,000 miles from her home, to have her baby FIGHTING FUND: British travel agents £1m fighting fund to deal with personal at cash-strapped Wythenshawe Hospital injury cases. costing the taxpayer around £10,000. It’s reported she required vast resources, including midwives, two ‘health tourist’ isn’t one. She’ll never Rather like the compensation culture so urology consultants, a radiology repay a penny and doubtless will be back prevalent now in the UK. British travel consultant, two obstetric consultants again for the next birth. agents are said to have an annual £1m and two anaesthetists. This has all to do with getting fighting fund to deal with personal injury Now, NHS treatment is not ‘free’. It’s something for nothing – something I’ve cases filed by holidaymakers. Among paid for by the UK taxpayer and this written about here before in this context. cases they’ve had to defend is that of a
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woman who sued after a coconut dropped onto her chest while reclining under a palm tree in the Dominican Republic. She received £1,700 in an outof-court settlement. Add to that the case of the teacher who secured a £200,000 compensation payout after slipping on a grape while in a school canteen. Good heavens! Not to mention the illegal immigrant labelled by the judge a ‘one man crime wave’ who was recently jailed for two years for a string of new offences (12 to add to his ‘previous’, namely 30!). Just a year after winning £17,360 compensation for ‘unlawful detention’ while awaiting deportation! Is it really surprising people like the Nigerian ‘health tourist’ above effectively ‘steal’ from the British taxpayer when the UK’s thriving compensation culture is not only still keeping the door open for them but continuing to transport them over the threshold?
Nora Johnson’s thrillers ‘Soul Stealer’ & ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.norajohnson.com) available from Amazon in paperback/ eBook (€0.89; £0.77) and iBookstore. Profits to Cudeca.