It’s just an anecdote in the Spectator.
Whenever the NHS in is dire financial straits (like now) this kind of article appears, mostly in the tabloid press. It serves to divert the blame for underfunding to those pesky foreigners.
In fact health tourism amounts to a very small amount of the NHS budget - about 0.3%.
As John Appleby of the Kings Fund says “
“I have a feeling the public doesn’t understand the proportions involved; people speak as though thousands and thousands of people are doing it, but they really aren’t.”
Secondly the NHS is doing much better than even 5 years ago when it comes to reclaiming money, £376 million out of a possible £500 million.
Thirdly introducing added bureaucracy to collect extra money may not be cost effective, as they found in the ‘60s when there was an idea of charging people involved in road traffic accidents.
More facts and figures here …
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/heres-why-making-people-show-their-passports-to-get-nhs-trea?utm_term=.oolKqK3WQ#.awnXDXEPB