Are you sure the pensions they spend t here do not offset the cost to the health service? I have no idea but imagine they spend more than they take. And most will come back to UK for serious stuff I would have thought.
There is a good documentary on that subject. Many hospitals were forced to hired translators. And as I have mentioned in my previous post, the Spanish NHS will provide more care than the UK's.
From the Euro Health Consumer Index 2017
https://healthpowerhouse.com/publications/euro-health-consumer-index-2017/
United Kingdom
15th place, 735 points. A 2014 survey to the public of the UK, asking about “What is the
essence of being British?” got the most common response “Having access to the NHS”.
Nevertheless, the UK healthcare system has never made it into the top 10 of the EHCI,
mainly due to poor Accessibility (in 2017 only beating Ireland on this sub-discipline) and
an autocratic top-down management culture. The country, which once created the
Bletchley Park code-breaking institution would do well to study the style of management
of professional specialists created there6
!
Mediocre Outcomes of the British healthcare system have been improving, but in the
absence of real excellence, the tightened 2017 criteria puts the U.K. on par with Spain
and the Czech Republic in the middle of the field. During the autumn of 2017 there were
also worrying media reports about increasing Waiting Time problems, and reduced quality
of cancer care.