Cost recovery must not compromise patient care

01 February 2017

 

The public accounts committee says the government has failed to “get a grip” on recovering the NHS costs of treating overseas visitors.

The committee’s report says despite an increase in the amount charged, the department of health and the NHS are set to fall well short of meeting the target to recover up to £500 million a year.

It describes the current systems for recovery as “chaotic” and argues that not enough is being done to identify and charge overseas patients.  

It has called on the department to produce a detailed plan setting out how this will be addressed and who will be accountable for achieving it.

Responding to the report, director of policy and strategy Saffron Cordery said:

“The NHS will always provide urgent medical care to any patient who needs it, but people who are not ordinarily resident may have to pay for hospital treatment.

“At a time when the NHS is under unprecedented financial pressure it is important that, as far as is practicable, these costs are recovered.

It is often difficult to identify patients who can be charged. Any scheme to overcome this must not compromise patient care.

“As the committee acknowledges, it is often difficult to identify patients who can be charged.  Any scheme to overcome this must not compromise patient care. Flagging patients in trust IT systems based on eligibility criteria is something many trusts are looking at. 

“We support the sharing of best practice to improve performance, but penalising trusts for failing to achieve a headline target risks ignoring their particular circumstances and the resource it takes to collect these charges.”