Your programme on health service tourists was an excellent expose of how we are all being ripped off by health tourists and our own lax NHS. I was shocked that a doctor should say that he is not an immigration officer and therefore it is not his responsibility to consider whether a patient should pay for treatment or not. It absolutely is his responsibility as a professional whose salary comes out of our taxes to ensure that our public services are not used fraudulently by anyone, including so-called health tourists. No wonder we are the laughing stock of European healthcare.
DC, London, England

I am a New Zealander living and working in the UK. As a taxpayer I should be allowed access to some of the services my taxes go towards. Peter Ibbs, UK

The Real Story programme on NHS tourism had me in tears last night. The reason? We moved to a small town just outside Doncaster from Berkshire a year ago and I have not been able to get a doctor in the town since we arrived! I should be on medication (thyroid tablets, beta blockers & blood pressure tablets) and was told I needed surgery before we left our last home. I will have to collapse before I get medical treatment. This type of abuse on the NHS has got to stop. These visitors should not get treatment unless their life depends on it. Passport control should check they have medical insurance before they are allowed into the UK.
Rhoda, UK

I am a New Zealander living and working in the UK on a working holiday visa - basically a tourist, however, I am working hard to pay my way to travel and that means that I'm paying tax. As a taxpayer I should be allowed access to some of the services my taxes go towards. I'm also paying council taxes. The implication that we're somehow a bunch of freeloaders is doubly insulting as British sons and daughters receive a reciprocal arrangement when they come to our countries to travel.
Mathew Dunckley, England

An excellent eye opener on NHS abuse - I'm so annoyed that my letter is on its way to the Secretary of State Peter Foster, UK

I can recall that during the mid-1980s there was a considerable "trade" in tourist abortions on the NHS at one central London hospital. The majority were from EU countries (Turkey and Iberia especially) and West Africa. These were often abetted by the medical social workers who fully understood what was going on but still tried to con the clinic that the women were eligible. Irish women tended to go elsewhere (Birmingham, Liverpool etc) but there was more sympathy for them from the medical and nursing staff, perhaps because of the common cultural background.
Peter Ibbs, UK

I hope people realise how the government has ripped us off again by putting national insurance up and wasting it on people who are not entitled to health care. No wonder people have seen no improvement in the NHS. If Gorden Brown puts it up agaim I recommend a national strike until the the government stops the so-called NHS tourism.
Mr D Cheshire, UK

The NHS benefits from recruiting nurses and doctors from third world countries - where I expect quite a few of the so- called health tourist come from. Mark Milward, UK

I'm truly disgusted that foreigners who haven't contributed anything at all can receive free treatment paid for by NHS. Its appalling! How many people here are having to do without?
Pam, England

An excellent eye opener on NHS abuse - I'm so annoyed that my letter is on its way to the Secretary of State
Peter Foster, UK

I was infuriated by a number of the revelations on the programme tonight about NHS Tourists. I was particularly angered by the doctor who said he believed he should treat everyone. It's a pity he was not asked a) what he would say to people who have paid national health insurance for years and are now waiting for treatment whilst he treats non paying scroungers, and b) Would he be so keen to treat all these people if the NHS took the time he spent with them off his salary!
Tony Rowe, England

Better controls and screening is needed so that Britain is not seen as any easy option for free healthcare. Katherine, England

The NHS benefits from recruiting nurses and doctors from third world countries - where I expect quite a few of the so- called health tourist come from.
Mark Milward, UK

I was shocked and disgusted to see how many people abuse the system. As a tax payer myself who is currently waiting for minor treatment I see it as unfair that those from abroad can jump the queue and receive any treatment they wish without a problem. Better controls and screening is needed so that Britain is not seen as any easy option for free healthcare.
Katherine, England

The public needs to be reassured that the system, perceived to be at breaking point, will have adequate resources to deal with the needs of those who have contributed to the system. My husband was also off work for six months with a back problem and had to use our savings to see an orthopedic surgeon as his priority appointment was not until October, and we live in Scotland.Politicians must face up to their responsibilities and devise a system which is fair to all .Adequate health insurance should be a prerequisite to entering UK.I also know of several instances of expats returing home after many years without insurance as the NHS will provide.Programmes like this should put pressure on the government to act in everybody`s interest and save the NHS for all who finance it.
Lida Watson, Scotland

Unfortunately, the issue of NHS tourism are bound to be used and abused by right wing and racist elements in society Anna Farlow, UK

I am a 57 year-old man who has worked and paid tax and national insurance since leaving school 43 years ago. In October 2002 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am still being refused treatment on the NHS because I live in a part of the country that does not fund the treatment that I need. The only way that I can obtain treatment for this terminal illness is to pay for it privately which I cannot afford. Having paid for the NHS for 43 years I find this to say frustrating.
Richard N Brown, England

The programme failed to address the real question which is to understand why these people cannot get treatment in their own countries. It could be that medicines are too expensive because the pharmaceutical companies do not want to licence the drugs to local companies - as is the case with the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Another answer would be that there are not enough doctors and nurses in African countries because they are all lured to come and work for the NHS.
Ludovic Lemaignen, UK

I am a mature student, just about the enter medical school after giving up a previously successful career. I am committed to the medical profession and its policy of treating all it can. I am, however, very angry and frustrated that our government is unable to stop this international fraud - an insult to our own residents and those entitled to our resources. Surely a requirement for

Having watched this programme I am even more convinced that only the people who make a contribution to national insurance should have the right to free medical treatment Mike Dewdney, England

health insurance to be demonstrated at the point of entry into the UK for tourists and health screening for others is the way forward.
Paul, UK

We were surprised at how easily the journalist from Russia could get registered with a doctor, because each time we have moved house, and therefore had to change doctors, we have had to produce our NHS medical card! When we moved to our present address we were also very limited as to which surgery we could register with - our nearest one was full. My NI contributions, along with millions of other people's, went up thanks to Mr Brown - and having watched this programme I am even more convinced that only the people who make a contribution to the NI should have the right to free medical treatment.
Mike Dewdney, England

Unfortunately, the issue of NHS tourism are bound to be used and abused by right wing and racist elements in society. But in my experience of working in GPs surgeries in the 1980s the worst offenders were Antipodeans, presumambly because they have the funds to travel widely and in great numbers. There is an urgent need for the message to be sent to countries around the world that if their citizens intend visiting Britain they must do as the British have been accustomed to do for years - take out insurance. Thank you for this programme. I only hope it will spur the government to finally do something to clarify for health professionals who is and who is not entitled to use the health service - including introducing penalties for those in the profession flouting the rules and defrauding the health service. Prescription fraud can result in imprisonment, so why can't health service fraud?
Anna Farlow, UK