Removed patient in care struggle

Ama Sumani, 39, who has cancer and requires kidney dialysis, was removed from a Cardiff hospital and flown back to her home country on Wednesday.

But she says she is unable to get care because she cannot pay hospital fees.

UK officials said they had checked medical treatment was available in Ghana before she was flown home.

Less than 24 hours after being removed from the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Mrs Sumani attended the main hospital in Accra, Ghana's capital city.

The mother-of-two said the hospital had then asked for the equivalent of about $6,000 (£3,060) to cover her kidney dialysis sessions for the next three months.

Kidney damage

A hospital official in Ghana said Mrs Sumani had been accompanied by British immigration officials who had offered to pay for the first three months' treatment.

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However, he said the hospital could not help her as she had no source of funding for the ongoing medical care she required.

Mrs Sumani, who has a type of cancer - malignant myeloma - which has damaged her kidneys, had been receiving dialysis three times a week in the UK before she was sent home with an expired visa.

Her solicitor said she had accepted her removal was fair but that they had made representations on her behalf on compassionate grounds.

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency said removals were always carried out in the "most sensitive way possible, treating those being removed with courtesy and dignity".

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Country profile - Ghana
Border and Immigration Agency
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