§ 34. Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to collect the money owed to the NHS by private patients.
§ Mr. MoylePatients admitted to NHS hospitals seeking private treatment are required to give, or be the subject of, an undertaking to pay hospital charges. Accounts are normally rendered weekly and patients are expected to settle their accounts before they are discharged. It is within the discretion of local management to ask paying patients for a deposit before their admission which may cover part or the whole of the cost of their expected duration of stay.
Where accounts are not settled it is the responsibility of the health authority concerned to ensure that all practicable steps are taken to recover debts including, where appropriate, action through the courts.
Losses written off are less than 1 per cent, of income recovered. I am considering how we might improve the system to reduce the losses and to overcome problems of slow payment.