§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made by his Department in its follow-up action on the statutory auditor's report about debts from providing private in-patient care.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsFollowing the statutory audit review of private medical practice, the Department required district health authorities in Wales to review their systems for the identification, recording and collection of private patient income and take any necessary remedial action. Nearly all health authorities in Wales have satisfactorily completed these reviews. District health authorities have also been required to inform the Department of the steps they have taken to identify income owing to the NHS as a result of treatment not being properly charged for, and of the measures taken to effect recovery. Where the income cannot be collected, authorities have been advised to record the unrecovered income as a loss and to bring it to account in their annual accounts losses statement. As I indicated in my reply to the hon. Gentleman on 24 November 1986, at columns 19–21, the statutory auditor's reports on invidual authorities will not be cleared until all outstanding points have been satisfactorily resolved.