NHS useage by people "off the grid"?

[NeilW]

The general principle in the UK is that if you are in the British Isles, then you get to use the services. It's one of the advantages of having a country surrounded by water - it saves the cost of checking everywhere and we just get on with doing the job.

We used to realise it didn't matter because money is made round to go around. If somebody has a job and is doing something, then they will spend elsewhere in the economy which gives them a job.

Unfortunately we were then taken over by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. At which point we started paying people to do nothing - aka mass unemployment.

Quite why hiring a load of checkers like they have in the USA is considered more systemically efficient than hiring more doers who actually administer health care, but then I'm not a bean-counter.

[Lootman]

remarkably my new practise found my records from somewhere. Whether they had still been held unused for something like 6.5 years or been transferred to some central vault i have no idea...

I wondered about that. I never visited my old GP from 1987 to 2010. No contact either. I was not even sure whether a doctor keeps you on their books or not if you never show up. They might be tempted to however as I believe they get a payment for each patient on their books regardless of visits.

But then in 2010 I signed up for a new doctor, and it was no problem at all. I had my old NHS card that others here were talking about and, although that was obsolete by then, it did the trick. I don't believe I had to identify my old doctor at all.

[scrumpyjack]

The general principle in the UK is that if you are in the British Isles, then you get to use the services. It's one of the advantages of having a country surrounded by water - it saves the cost of checking everywhere and we just get on with doing the job.

We used to realise it didn't matter because money is made round to go around. If somebody has a job and is doing something, then they will spend elsewhere in the economy which gives them a job.

Unfortunately we were then taken over by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. At which point we started paying people to do nothing - aka mass unemployment.

Quite why hiring a load of checkers like they have in the USA is considered more systemically efficient than hiring more doers who actually administer health care, but then I'm not a bean-counter.

It is not a trivial problem with many cases of overseas residents specifically coming to the UK in order to get free treatment to which they are not entitled, costing huge sums.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/12 ... grant.html

[csearle]

Moderator Message:
The OP's question is: DAK how many customers of the NHS are people that are unknown to the authorities please? Please could we stick to answering that question. Thanks, Chris

[didds]

It is not a trivial problem with many cases of overseas residents specifically coming to the UK in order to get free treatment to which they are not entitled, costing huge sums.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/12 ... grant.html

so the question has to be why arent they charged?

didds

[csearle]

Even I know one Brit that has lived almost all her life in Germany, became pregnant, flew over here, used the NHS without question (had a NINO), had her baby, then went back to Germany and has lived there ever since. Not paid a penny into our system just benefitted from it. This must go on all the time. So the answer to the OP's question is >0.

Chris
(PS If I had been her I'd've stayed in Germany as their health service is by almost all measures streets ahead of ours, I know this because I have spent decades in both countries. For example she would have had an ultrasound scan there and then every time she rocked up at her GP).