NHS loses massive £40million from unpaid health tourism bills in just two years
Department of Health declares the NHS is a national, not an international, service
BRITAIN’S biggest hospitals have lost £40million to unpaid health tourism bills in the last two years.
Eight major NHS Trusts have accepted they will never see £15million again.
Accountants reckon a further £25million — equivalent to 1,000 nurses’ salaries a year — is near-impossible for them to recover, a Sun on Sunday probe found.
The National Audit Office estimates a Government bid to claw back £500million a year of health spending on foreigners from 2017 will fall short by £150million.
Our investigation found London’s Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust wrote off £5million in 2014/15 relating to 1,002 patients.
It has asked the UK Border Agency for help retrieving other owed money.
East London’s Barts Health NHS Trust — the UK’s biggest — has written off nearly £1.5million in two years. Accounts show £8million may never be recovered.
Newcastle NHS Trust accepts it has lost £200,000 and is unlikely to get back another £350,000.
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The powerful Commons’ Public Accounts Committee of MPs was told a third of NHS Trusts spend more on debt recovery firms than they get back in unpaid bills.
One doctor told them of foreign NHS medics who pull strings to arrange for relatives to be treated in the UK for free.
Dr Meirion Thomas said: “A few high-profile prosecutions would send the right message.
“A crackdown would give more value to taxpayers.”
Tory MP Kevin Foster, who sits on the PAC, said “better checks” were needed to prevent abuse.
The Department of Health said: “Our NHS is a national, not international, health service.
“We’ll keep working hard to protect it.”