National Health Service lose millions in private health fees

According to a new report, the National Health Service could be writing off untold million due to patients from abroad and those with private health insurance failing to pay off their hospital bills.

The report investigated the financial state of four different health trusts . Apparently, private work conducted by health trusts is climbing rapidly. Any money made should be directly put back into patients services.

However, according to the study in the Health Services Journal, private work conducted by trusts may not be all that profitable. The magazine investigated four separate trusts, and found high levels of outstanding debt . Much of this debt has to be written off, or is recovered very slowly. The head of health at Unison, Karen Jennings, was reported in the medical insurance news as saying: These bad debts are another example of the growing instability created in the NHS by forging links with the private sector.