§ Mr. McMahonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the amounts of unpaid bills or amounts owed by private patients in each Scottish local health authority at the latest available date; and what steps are taken to recover these amounts.
§ Mr. John MacKayThis information is not available centrally. Health boards vigorously pursue debtors for the payment of outstanding bills. We have asked boards to obtain deposits from private patients before treatment to avoid bad debts.