In 2020, when my daughter Omisha was 10 months old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. The NHS saved her life - she needed a liver transplant and has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy. 

She is now 3 years old, and she is a brave and very happy child who loves colouring and likes to play with her big sister. She is immunocompromised for life, but she is a fighter and with the help of amazing NHS staff, she is making a good recovery, and she will be starting school this year!

But as a result of hostile Government immigration policies, our local hospital - Barking, Redbridge, Havering NHS Trust (BHRUT) - sent us a bill for £76,000, for Omisha’s life saving care.

They tried to send debt collectors to chase me and my husband for payment, even when we told the hospital that we could not afford to pay.

Omisha is being charged because of Hostile Environment immigration controls in the NHS. She was born in Britain, and after many years of fighting, has finally been granted British citizenship. This means her NHS treatment is now free, but we still have a debt for the care she’s already received.

Me and my husband have lived in the UK for more than 10 years, after moving from Nepal as students. We were not allowed to work until recently whilst we applied for our immigration status. We have very limited access to support because of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, and so we are reliant on our family to help pay our bills. How is our daughter supposed to pay this debt? 

We do not want any other families to go through what we have been through.

Everyone deserves to be able to access the healthcare they need, regardless of where they or their parents are from, or if they can pay. 

With friends and campaigners in our local community, we are campaigning for justice for Omisha, and for everyone charged for NHS care. Already, we have got the Trust to put our debt on hold. Please help us to tell our local hospital to cancel all Omisha’s debt, and tell the Government to end Hostile Environment immigration policies in the NHS to end all charging.

Together, we are calling for:

1. Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust to cancel all of Omisha’s NHS debt.
2. The local council and all relevant health providers secure a safe environment - including suitable housing - for Omisha, who is immunocompromised for life, where she and her family can develop and flourish.
3. Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust ensure safeguards to ensure that no families who are destitute receive NHS bills.
4. The NHS stops using debt collection agencies to enforce debts against families who cannot pay.
5. The Home Office ends immigration checks in the NHS, and ends all charging of migrants for their NHS care.