Pregnant women to show passports at hospital before giving birth in UK

St George’s University Hospitals Foundation trust said the problem of maternity tourism was escalating at hospitals across the country.

It said it had fallen victim to “organised illegal activity” which has seen conmen making money by charging women from Nigeria to have babies on the NHS.

The trust said it was now proposing a “blanket” approach to all women in order to avoid charges of discrimination.

Board papers reveal that the pilot scheme is being devised as part of national efforts to ensure that proof of ID is routinely presented before patients access all NHS care, including at Accident & Emergency.

NHS trusts are already supposed to charge overseas patients from outside Europe for the cost of healthcare, unless they have lived in the UK long enough to become eligible for treatment.

But until now, there have been limited attempts to pursue costs of maternity care, with bills only sent after the birth, and often going unpaid.

Under the new proposals, women will have to prove their right to use the NHS when their procedure is planned.

“At booking every patient will need to show a form of photo ID or proof of their right to remain (asylum status, visa, etc),” the October trust board papers say.

“Any patient who is unable to do this will be referred to the trust’s overseas patient team for specialist document screening, in liaison with the UK Border Agency and the Home Office,” they continue.

The papers, seen by Health Service Journal, state that the trust would create a “blanket process for every woman referred or self-referred to St George’s for obstetric care” in order to avoid any charges of discrimination.

“No one will be discriminated against,” the document says. “The intention is for this to become standard procedure.”

The board papers state that the Home Office is “very keen to formally support this pilot”.

In the documents, Jo Johnson, the trust’s head of overseas patients, says increasing numbers are receiving care to which they are not entitled, with a surge in maternity cases.

“The problem is escalating within obstetrics and we have just been made aware that individuals are currently offering paid assistance to women in Nigeria to have their babies for free on the NHS at St George’s,” he warns.

Mr Johnson said the trust was being targeted because it did not carry out robust checks, leading to the loss of around £4.6 million from the local NHS year, with four in five overseas patients absconding or refusing to pay bills.

In recent years, the NHS has attempted to claw back more spending on patients who are not eligible for care.

Last year ministers said this would include casualty visits, though they said emergency care should not be delayed.

The board papers say new national guidance is expected to advocate routine presentation of proof of identity of eligibility for NHS care.