A British expat couple are facing an NHS bill of £40,000 after their baby was born prematurely while on a trip home to England.
Paul Barnes, 33, moved to Zambia a decade ago and was joined by his fiancee Sophie Henley, 25, in 2014.
Every year they travel home to the UK to spend Christmas with their family and friends.
It was during a trip home that things took an unexpected turn and baby Archie was born seven weeks early in January.
Archie weighed just 3lbs and has been kept in an intensive care incubator since January 23 suffering from breathing problems.
Paul Barnes and his pregnant fiancée were on holiday in the UK visiting family and friends when complications led to son Archie being delivered seven weeks early by emergency c-section
However the couple have been told they will have to pay for the bill.
As of February 22 this stands at £40,000, and they have been told they have to pay a 150 per cent tariff as they are not from the European Economic Area.
They fear it could rise to £60,000 before Archie leaves specialist care at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
The pair are both British citizens – and have paid years of tax and NI contributions – but because they are no longer residents, they don’t qualify for free NHS treatment.
Paul Barnes, 33, moved to Zambia in Africa to work in the safari industry a decade ago and was joined by his fiancée Sophie Henley, 25, in 2014
Mr Barnes, who will have to leave his family and return to Zambia to work in the coming weeks, said: ‘I’m 100% British. I would never ever renounce my British passport for anything.
‘I feel, and always have felt, British. I was born here and of course so was Archie. We might be residents of Zambia for now, but he isn’t.
Archie weighed just 3lbs and has been kept in an intensive care incubator since January 23 suffering from breathing problems
‘We paid tax and National Insurance while we worked here, and our families have done so and still do so.
‘I feel many things at the moment. I hate having to ask people for money. It’s nothing I have ever done before.
‘I feel nervous about my son’s health. I feel that more than anything. I’m worried about the money too. It’s very hard.’
Mr Barnes met Miss Henley when she travelled to Zambia for work and she moved to Africa to join him in 2014.
They flew back to the UK to see family for the safari ‘low season’ on December 15, planning to return on February 5 in time for Archie’s due date on March 13.
But when Miss Henley, who runs a lodge in Zambia, noticed reduced movements she went to Barnstaple Hospital where she was given an emergency C-section on January 23.
The couple knew they would not be entitled to free NHS care, and planned a natural birth in Zambia.
They said they were not able to get insurance for Sophie prior to travel, as she was already expecting.
The birth cost around £5,900 – now owed to Barnstaple Hospital – but Archie needed NICU and high dependency care, costing up to £1,300 a day.
As of February 22, they owed a further £33,700 to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, but Mr Barnes fears the total bill will be around £60,000.
Mr Barnes is originally from Launceston, Devon, but moved to Zambia 10 years ago to run a safari lodge. He met Miss Henley, who is originally from Nottingham, four years ago when she visited for work
The bill rises with every day he spends in hospital, and he is not expected to leave until he has reached his due date.
He is also back in the high dependency unit currently with prematurity-related heart problems.
‘It’s been a tough time,’ said Mr Barnes. ‘Having a premature baby is difficult anyway.
‘We simply don’t have the capacity to pay it all now. I don’t know what happens if we don’t pay it – different people are saying different things.
‘But we have been speaking to the financier here and she said we will go on some sort of payment plan. I don’t know what happens if we just say we can’t pay it.’
The Nigerian mother who left the NHS with a bill of more than £500,000 after giving birth to quadruplets in London
One of the largest hospitals in the country was left chasing a bill of more than £500,000 from a Nigerian woman who gave birth to quadruplets.
The 43-year-old, named only as Priscilla, went into labour three months early shortly after landing at Heathrow airport.
She had intended to give birth to the babies in Chicago, in the US, where she has family – but was turned away by border officials upon arrival.
The 43-year-old, named only as Priscilla, left the NHS with a bill of more than £500,000 after giving birth to quadruplets in London
They claimed that although she had a visa, she did not have required documents from a hospital stating that she had the money to pay for the birth.
Priscilla, a healthcare worker, said she was returning to Nigeria via London when she started having contractions.
She was taken to the Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in west London, part of Imperial College Hospital, where she delivered the four babies in November 2016.
Staff estimated that the total bill for the highly complex birth and the care of the babies was more than £500,000.
Priscilla’s case was the subject of a BBC documentary
A Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: ‘While we are unable to comment on individual cases, our prime concern is to look after the patients in our care and help them, or their carers, to understand any rules or regulations that may apply to their treatment while they are with us.
‘Department of Health regulations state that we are legally obliged to apply appropriate charges for overseas visitors. These charges are determined by residency and those eligible for free treatment need to be living in the UK voluntarily and for settled purposes.
‘Individual NHS Trusts have no authority to waive or reduce charges for patients identified as chargeable overseas visitors, although urgent and necessary medical treatment will never be withheld due to charging/payment issues.’
A spokesperson from the Department of Health said it could not comment on individual cases but said it appears the ‘regulations were interpreted correctly’ by the trust.
They added: ‘Eligibility isn’t based on nationality. UK citizens who live outside the European Economic Area will need health insurance when visiting the UK.’