§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the estimated losses of revenue to the National Health Service in the 10 worst cases of undercharging or failure to charge revealed by his recent survey of health authorities' charging arrangements.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to the reply, 11 December 1984, c. 475]: Although some estimates have been made by auditors, they have yet to be substantiated. Final figures for any losses requiring to be written off will not be available until health authorities have had the opportunity of considering and replying to the audit reports and identifying the sums involved.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the gross income for National Health Service hospitals from charges to road accident victims, private patients and overseas visitors, respectively, and what is the net income in each case.
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§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to the reply, 11 December 1984, c. 475]: Gross income from these three sources in 1983–84 was £6.95 million, £55.455 million and £1.589 million, respectively. It is not practical to try to estimate net figures.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the gross income for National Health Service hospitals from charges to road accident victims, private patients and overseas visitors, respectively, if all such charges had been fully levied.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to the reply, 11 December 1984, c. 475]: Any estimate would be entirely speculative, but I am very concerned about the substantial evidence that not all the income is being collected. I have therefore written recently to health authority chairmen asking them to ensure that arrangements for collecting income due to the NHS are operating effectively. The NHS scrutiny report on the collection of income was published at the same time. I am arranging for copies of both documents to be placed in the Library.