NHS and councils reverse policies after Mail on Sunday exposes tuition and treatment bans for privately schooled children

# What happened Reporting in the Mail on Sunday uncovered cases where hospital education and clinical decisions differed on the basis of whether a child attended a state or fee-paying school. The coverage identified specific incidents in which parents of privately schooled children were either billed for in-patient tuition or faced barriers to treatment.

# Which policies were changed

• Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust: A trust that previously refused treatment to a child because he attended a private school reversed that policy after the matter was publicised.

# Notable examples reported One case involved a boy named Finn, who spent months on a cancer ward at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh. Finn's family reported that he did not receive the daily schooling other children on the ward received because his school could not provide staff under infection-control rules and because he was billed for tuition. The reporting said parents were charged £115 per hour in that instance. Finn's parents and others described the policy as discriminatory and divisive.

# Immediate outcomes After publication, local and NHS bodies reviewed the policies and announced reversals or changes. Edinburgh City Council voted to scrap the rule that led to extra charges for privately educated children. The London trust that had refused treatment to a privately schooled eight-year-old also reversed its position.

# Public reaction and context Sunday framed its coverage as exposing what it described as ideologically driven discrimination by public bodies. The disclosures led to debate in Scottish political forums and prompted council-level action. Parents affected by the policies publicly thanked the paper for highlighting the issue.

# What this means for families and providers

# Remaining questions The reporting triggered immediate reversals in specific cases, but it did not produce a single nationwide change in policy documented in the article. Individual trusts and councils will handle their own reviews and implementation timelines, and families should check with their local hospital education service for up-to-date arrangements.

# Bottom line Local authorities and at least one NHS trust changed or abandoned policies after Mail on Sunday reporting showed privately schooled in-patients faced charges or treatment barriers not faced by state-schooled children. Families affected by similar rules should contact their hospital education service and local council for details of current practice.