A retired teacher was sent an NHS bill after he received hospital treatment in England – because he lived in Wales. Nicholas White, 64, was taken ill while visiting relatives in Cambridgeshire in December. He was stunned when staff at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, near Huntingdon, said he would be getting a bill for almost £2,000 in the post because he was ‘technically a foreigner’. Nicholas White, 64, from north Wales, was taken ill while visiting relatives in Cambridgeshire. After a three-day stay at Hinchingbrooke Hospital he was sent a bill for £1,775 because he was classed as a 'foreigner' The hospital have since apologised, and claim they explained to Mr White that he could pass the bill on to his GP so they could arrange for it to be paid by the local health board. However last week Mr White was shocked when he received an ‘unsettling’ demand in the post saying that the £1,775 bill was overdue. ‘It was very stressful,’ he said, adding: ‘I’ve worked for 40-plus years and always paid my taxes, so to be suddenly told that I was going to be charged for treatment on the NHS was shocking. I was infuriated.’ Hinchingbrooke Hospital has admitted that the invoice was sent to Mr White in error and should have been sent to his local health authority . Mr White, who lives in the village of Dyffryn Ardudwy in North Wales, fell ill while visiting relatives shortly before Christmas and spent three days undergoing tests at Hinchingbrooke Hospital – the first NHS hospital to be run by a private company. Mr White said: 'I was told that because I was Welsh I counted as a foreigner and would  have to pay' He was released, but several weeks later was offered a gastroscopy, where doctors put a camera into a stomach to identify any problems. Moments before the procedure in January, Mr White claims he was ushered into a side room by an administrator and told he would be sent a bill for the examination and his previous stay. The father-of-two said: ‘She said that because I lived in Wales I was technically a foreigner and would be sent a bill – my wife nearly fell off her chair. For them to have been talking to me about payment moments before they took me for treatment was totally wrong.’ A few weeks after the procedure, which found he was suffering from a hernia, Mr White received a bill for £1,775 – marked ‘important’. Initially he ‘didn’t worry too much’ as his GP had told him that the health board would deal with the invoice, so he simply passed it onto his surgery. But last week he was sent a reminder which said the balance was ‘overdue’. A spokesman for Hinchingbrooke NHS Trust denied referring to Mr White as a ‘foreigner’ and claimed they sent him the invoice at the request of his GP surgery. They added: ‘We agreed with the GP that we would send the invoice directly to the patient, and he would pass it on to the practice. We’re sorry if there was any confusion.’ But a spokesman for the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board said: ‘The invoice should have been sent to the health board. We would have paid it directly, without involving the patient.’
Nicholas White, 64, was taken ill while visiting relatives in Huntingdon . He was taken to Hinchingbrooke Hospital where he received treatment . But he was shocked to find a bill for £1,775 come through his door . Hospital staff member said being Welsh meant he was classed a 'foreigner'
Hospital said they agreed to send the bill to Mr White for him to forward on to his GP to allow his local health board to pay . The NHS in Wales is run separately to the health service in England .