Cancer patient must pay for treatment when home from Thailand
A CANCER patient from Ilfracombe, who has been living in Thailand, has been told he must pay for consultations and treatments while he is back in the UK.
Gerald Roe, who owns a shop in Ilfracombe High Street and has returned to stay with family in the town for a month, has been living in Thailand for three years after fighting prostate cancer.
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CANCER PATIENT: Gerald Roe is angry that he has to pay for consultations and tests. 0905-160_03
And on visiting Ilfracombe's Waterside Practice, he was told he would be charged £25 for a consultation, £6 in administration fees and £19 for a blood test.
Mr Roe, 77, said: "I had prostate cancer three years ago. I had radiotherapy and was taken by car to Exeter every day, which was brilliant, but the NHS seems to have gone from one extreme to the other.
"After five months the specialist told me that my recovery was miraculous — he didn't want to see me for six months.
"And because of what I had been through, I decided I wanted to see a bit more of the world and went to Thailand."
Mr Roe said he still has a British passport and has returned twice in the last three years for check ups, as he was told to do by his specialist, but this is the first time he has been faced with fees.
He said: "It would be silly of me to come all this way and not get the checks, now I'm here — especially when some of the results in Thailand were very inaccurate — so I'm just going to get the necessary blood tests.
"I'd like to see my days out in Ilfracombe with family, but at the moment I'm living in Thailand."
Waterside's practice manager Helen Tanner explained: "NHS regulations state that a person is not entitled to free NHS treatment if they have not been resident in the UK for three months. The test is one of residency, not citizenship."
She added: "However, the Waterside Practice would never charge for emergency treatment for any person."
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by liz woolfenden, rotterdam/northam
Monday, June 22 2009, 2:45PM
“Mr Roe has 'prepaid' for his treatment as a retiree. Also if he can show that he has previously lived in UK for 10 years he is entitled to treatment. However, to stop any problems ensure you retire to a country with a 'reciprocal agreement' with the UK or another member of the EC.”
by anon, winkleigh
Tuesday, June 16 2009, 5:31PM
“If Mr Roe prefers Thailand to England, then let him have his tratment there. If the country isnt good enough to live in then it isnt good enough to treat him. Look after the people who still have some faith in the country. There are too many expats think we owe them a living.”
by jewel and david smalldon, Cayman island british west indies
Monday, June 08 2009, 3:40AM
“Like mr Row my husband worked all his life never one day was he out of work .he did 22 yrs in the army and after demob british rail and post office .27 years in cayman now retired he still paid his national insurance to make sure he got his pension .its so little we can hardley put food on the table.and to make it worst they still tax his bit of army pension and calls it unearned incom.after 22 yrs ishould think he darned well earned every bit of it .some time ago we came home and had to go to the clinic and was told the same thing .mr row should fight this all the way to downing st.its distgusting that people can be treated in this manner when they have paid there fair dues .some people like us go to the sun for health reasons but that shoulden nake us out cast from our own country.every tom dick and harry comes into u.k gets all sorts of benifits but those who has put there whole life into it cant get any benifits like a DR check?Com on be fair to your people first”
by graham, thailand
Sunday, June 07 2009, 12:14AM
“Imagine paying insurance for over forty years in case you were sick and then when you were sick your told you cant claim thats whats happening here. As others point out there are people who have never worked or paid a stamp that get free medical and medicine. Those people that think this ruling is ok I presume have never paid as much into the system as this man they should get real! If this is going to be the case in future then anyone who desires to retire to the sun eventualy should be able to opt out of paying for the very reason they will not get what they are paying for.”
by Peter, Thailand, Thailand
Sunday, May 31 2009, 11:52AM
“Disgusting, I just wonder who is taking care of the taxes & contributions that Mr Roe has paid, are they are being given away ?”