ROGER GODSIFF DEMANDS URGENT INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS OF HEALTH TOURISM AT LOCAL HEALTH CENTRE FOLLOWING PANORAMA PROGRAMME.

“I want an urgent investigation to remove the ‘cloud’ which has been placed over the health centre.” says Roger Godsiff.

Birmingham Hall Green MP, Roger Godsiff,  has confessed himself to be ‘shocked’ at the alleged behaviour of a local practice manager at a Health Centre in his constituency filmed taking large sums of money for putting so called ‘health tourists’ – people not entitled to receive free health treatment – on the books of GP’s operating in the practice.

The alleged behaviour of practice manager Mr Butt at the Farm Road Health Centre was filmed by Panorama and broadcast on the evening of 3^rd October and has led to Mr Godsiff writing an immediate letter to Wendy Saviour, Chief Executive of the Heart of Birmingham NHS Teaching PCT demanding an urgent enquiry.

Roger Godsiff said: “I would like to know exactly what steps you have taken in the light of the highly damaging revelations in the programme.  Has Mr. Butt been suspended and have the PCT sent in their own investigators to carry out an investigation?  He went on to say: “It would, in my opinion, be very inappropriate if such damaging evidence was being investigated by staff at the centre.” 

Mr Godsiff has also sort assurances that: “Nobody else, including the doctors at the centre, have received any payments for putting ‘overseas health visitors’ on the list of patients for GPs.” Panorama did not make allegations that any of the money received by the Practice Manager, Mr. Butt, was passed onto anybody else in the centre.

He has also asked Wendy Saviour about the steps that are being taken to have the dozen or so names of the ‘overseas health visitors’ for whom money was paid, removed from the list of patients at the practice and what further steps were going to be taken to ensure that all people using the centre were people legally resident in this country and had a legal entitlement to usage of the facilities.

Roger was very much involved in pushing for the brand new health centre at Farm Rd to be built and it was the very last project to be build under the LIFT programme prior to the incoming Government scrapping the programme. 

He concluded: “Local Councillors and the whole community were very proud of the new building and thankful that it had been built before the LIFT programme was abolished.”