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The NHS cannot cope with the cash strain of treating migrants that either cannot afford to or deliberately dodge paying their bills, a medical expert has claimed.

Leading cancer specialist professor Angus Dalgleish claimed the NHS spends millions of taxpayers’ cash on foreign nationals, with little guarantee of getting the money back, which was 'absolutely unsustainable.'

The Sun reported that one “illegal immigrant” ran up a bill for £181,000 at one of the UK’s most troubled hospitals.

It comes after Nigerian national Bimbo Ayelabola, 37, had a complex caesarean section at Homerton University Hospital after travelling to Britain while pregnant in 2011.

(Image: PA)

Portsmouth Hospitals Trust reportedly only sent one request for payment, more than six months after Miss Ayelabola left – and had failed to take any further action when it was returned unpaid.

A Ghanaian citizen was also reportedly deported before a £43,000 bill was paid — leaving a trust to pick up the tab.

Prof Dalgleish told The Sun : “What is the point of making all these terrible cuts to services when you’re not chasing the money you’re owed?

(Image: Facebook)

“I know of very ill individuals who’ve arrived for treatment from other countries and gone straight into intensive care costing thousands of pounds a day.

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“When I started in cancer treatment a course of drugs cost around £1,000. Now it’s £60,000 to £100,000.

“The cost is huge. No other healthcare system in the world could cope with it and the abuse of this system must be stopped.”

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The NHS reportedly failed to collect £65million from foreign nationals last year, although this figure could be higher as many patients are never identified.



A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are determined to make sure our NHS isn’t abused.”