A 38-year-old man is dying from heart failure after being denied treatment under UK immigration rules, prompting renewed criticism of the Home Office’s 'hostile environment' policies.
According to a MSN report, Nasar Ullah Khan has been living in the UK for nine years and is suffering from a serious heart condition which deteriorated into a terminal illness, but he was told he was not eligible for a potentially life-saving transplant because he does not have leave to remain in the country.
The Pakistani citizen has now launched a fundraising appeal to help his wife and two young sons visit him before he dies, but their visa is still being processed and the family believes it is unlikely it will be granted in time.
The report says he is one of hundreds of patients who have been denied treatment for serious health problems after ministers forced the NHS to impose upfront charges on migrants deemed ineligible for free healthcare.
Responding to Khan’s case, Chai Patel, legal policy director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), said the National Health Service (NHS) was being “undermined” by the hostile environment created for immigrants. “The new rules on charging people for medical treatment are so complicated that we have doctors and nurses scratching their heads trying to make sense of complex immigration law, when they should be treating the patient in front of them,” he added.
“We cannot ask NHS staff to take on the burden of immigration officials, when they need to concentrate on saving lives.”
The report says the UK’s Home Office has been contacted for comment.
[link url="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/man-dying-from-heart-failure-at-38-after-being-denied-treatment-under-home-offices-hostile-environment/ar-BBSpWhF"]MSN report[/link]