Islington Tribune - News: Patient who owes hospital £90,000

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 24 August 2007

Patient who owes hospital £90,000

FOREIGN embassies and private and overseas patients have run up millions of pounds in unpaid NHS bills at hospitals in Islington and Camden.
Figures released on Wednesday show that one patient alone owes £90,457 to Whittington Hospital in Archway.
Over the last five years the Whittington, University College Hospital (UCH) in Euston and the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead have written off more than £2 million of outstanding debts from private and overseas patients.
The Royal Free currently has £4.5 million in outstanding bills waiting to be paid by private and overseas patients.
The staff of embassies – including those of Kuwait and Qatar – owe more than £1 million to the Royal Free and UCH. The Cypriot embassy has run up the biggest bill, owing £500,000. Both hospitals stress most of this debt is less than 90 days old and is expected to be paid.
A spokeswoman for Whittington Hospital said: “Debt is chased by the income services section and, if there is no response, passed on to our debt collectors. Overseas visitors get referred to debt collectors immediately.
“Debt is put forward for write-off when it becomes uneconomic to chase or our debt collectors cannot locate the patient.”

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