NHS patients may have to show passports to access treatment

Patients could be made to show their passports when they use hospital care in England under new rules introduced by the Department of Health.

Those accessing new treatment will be asked questions about their residence status in the UK, and asked to submit passports and immigration documents when this is in doubt.

The new rules are an attempt to crackdown on health tourism, and do not apply to visits to accident and emergency departments or GP surgeries.

The BBC's health editor Hugh Pym reports.