I think, Brian, that once all the non- English speaking ill people in UK have passed on due to lack of treatment as no one could bother to understand what was wrong with them, we should perhaps then move on to refusing treatment to the other vulnerable members of our society, ie the over 65's and children under 18, who are also clearly not pulling their weight economically speaking. I assume that you would be happy with that too.?

You should remember that people , you included, who have been brought up as English speakers from birth will always have an innate advantage in the global economy and one achieved without even trying. There are also many people in the UK spending lots of time,effort and their own money having formal TEFL lessons in order to get on and to become self sufficient in the language. I am fortunate enough to have some teacher training in TEFL which unfortunately I could not complete. It takes years to become proficient as an adult especially when you are, as someone I know, working 24/7 in a grotty West End burger bar to pay for it all. It takes even longer to become so proficient as to be able to describe and understand medical procedures and advice given. There are many lower cost and free English schemes for refugees but these are hard to come by but people still strive to do them even in very difficult circumstances. I have personally taught young refugee women who have endured the most dreadful experiences before escaping to the UK and gaining refugee status. I saw them come to classes night after night and work hard to learn the language. But then no doubt you would begrudge them the subsidised courses and suggest that they are all returned home forthwith to face what would be almost certain death in their communities.

You say you never travel abroad. But if you had and if you had been taken ill in for instance, a country such as India you would have no trouble at all finding a senior doctor who spoke English to treat you. Lucky you, and lucky us in the UK, as wherever we travel in the world, we are likely in our hour of need to come across someone who can speak English proficiently enough to be able to save our lives .Even the indo European and Latin roots of English are often enough to make basic communication possible, which can often be enough.