§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the annual budget for the national health service in 2003–04 has been spent on treatment of non-British citizens. [150645]
§ Mr. HuttonEntitlement to free national health service treatment is based on residence in the United Kingdom. The national health service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 place a duty on
968WNHS trusts to establish whether a patient is ordinarily resident or otherwise eligible for free NHS hospital treatment and, if not, to levy a charge for any treatment provided.
The amounts collected from NHS charged patients are not separately identified in trust accounts and are not collected centrally.