Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department are taking to re-coup costs from unpaid medical treatment provided to non-entitled persons.

The Home Office is not responsible for recouping NHS debts. This is solely within the remit of each NHS trust. Migrants who are not entitled to free NHS healthcare are charged at 150% of the cost of treatment where charges apply.

The NHS debtor rule acts as an immigration sanction which is imposed on migrants who accrue debts to the NHS exceeding £500. Migrants with outstanding NHS debts are notified to the Home Office once the debt has been outstanding for a period exceeding two months from date of invoice. An NHS debt may lead to further immigration applications being refused.