Family doctors will be able to charge overseas visitors private healthcare fees under plans announced yesterday to stop so-called "health tourists" getting free treatment on the NHS.

Ministers believe there is a significant problem with people travelling to Britain purely to receive free healthcare.

These include pregnant women wanting to give birth in British hospitals and business travellers who "suddenly discover" they need major treatment.

GPs currently have the discretion over whether to register overseas visitors as NHS patients.

But a consultation paper published yesterday proposes to introduce a clearer set of rules on who is eligible to register for free treatment.

Unveiling the plan, Health Minister John Hutton said: "We have five million new registrations each year with family doctors and I think there is a real danger that more NHS resources are being used on people who are probably not entitled."

But Mr Hutton acknowledged that the proposed changes would mean failed asylum seekers would still be entitled to free treatment for conditions that arose before their applications were rejected.

He also stressed that emergency treatment would still be free to everyone who needed it.

In the North-East, there are two surgeries to deal with the medical needs of refugees, the Arrival Practice, in Stockton, and the Haven Practice, in Middlesbrough.

Dr Paul Williams, who has registered about 600 refugees at the Arrival Practice, expressed concern at the prospect of having to distinguish between refugees who could be treated and those who would be refused treatment or asked to pay.

"From an ethical point of view I feel that policing this sort of system is not the job of the doctor," he said.

Dr Williams said he would find it "absolutely abhorrent" to be asked to turn away needy patients. The GP said his experience suggested that so-called health tourism was not a significant problem, with only one out of 600 patients falling into this category.

"And even in this case, the family involved were fleeing from an area of conflict," he said.