§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if any patients liable to charges to overseas visitors have been refused treatment under the National Health Service for financial reasons since such charges were introduced.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNot so far as I am aware. Our guidance to hospitals states that every effort should be made to obtain payment, or, where that is impossible, an undertaking to pay. However, it also states that if staff have any reason to think that medical attention is required without delay, then that must take priority over enquiries into the patient's liability to charges or his ability to pay.
§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom who were subjected to stage 2 questioning with respect to National Health Service charges to overseas visitors in the United Kingdom from October 1981 to March 1984.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe do not collect this information. Under the procedures set out in our guidance, it should be very rare for a person ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom to be subjected to stage 2 questioning.