NHS owed £70 million by overseas visitors treated in the UK

The NHS is owed some £70 million by overseas visitors who were treated in the UK but then failed to pay their bill.

Health officials admit the enormous figure, accrued over a decade, is just the “tip of the iceberg” with the real costs likely to be far higher.

Meanwhile the amount going unpaid each year has soared to six times higher than a decade ago.

Conservative North East Cambridgeshire MP Stephen Barclay, who uncovered the data, said: “Taxpayers support the principle of a healthcare service free at the point of access.

“But they support a national service, not an international service.”

Every year the NHS spends millions of pounds treating people who visit the UK but are not eligible for free care.

They should be charged but the data released to Mr Barclay reveals a black-hole in the health service’s rightful income.

In 2002/03 the NHS wrote off £2.1 million in unpaid charges. But the figure steadily climbed, peaking at almost £14 million in 2010/11, before remaining stubbornly high at £11.6 million in 2011/12.

Charges can be written off due to a number of reasons including death, inability to pay or because the patient cannot be traced.

But the figures only relate to patients identified as chargeable in the first place, with officials conceding many who should pay are never even spotted.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The current rules give too much free care to too many visitors and too often patients who should pay are not identified.

“We need to introduce practical, effective ways to make sure patients who aren’t eligible pay their way.

“This figure represents the tip of the iceberg and we are committed to making the system work.”

The government will consult on measures this summer to better identify chargeable patients and recover debt.