Sunday 28 April 2024
Internal Reference Number: FOI_7186
Date Request Received: 17/05/2023 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 29/06/2023 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: NHS Charging of Overseas Visitors
Request Category: Private Individuals
| Question Number 1: I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, relating to the trusts implementation of the ‘NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, as amended by the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020’, hereafter referred to as ‘the charging policy’. The following requests relate to the expenditure and income generated from the 'charging policy', excluding any generated through private paying patients or monies claimed back from countries as part of any reciprocal healthcare arrangement. As per the trusts application of the 'charging policy' for each financial year from 2015-2023 please provide (i) the total number of and (ii) the total value of: (1a) Invoices generated (1b) Payments received (1c) Credit notes issued after a patient has been invoiced for care and later found to be eligible for free treatment (1d) Invoices written off for accounting purposes due to a patient being considered destitute as per the conditions set out in 13.72 and 13.73 of the charging policy. (1e) Debts passed onto debt collection agencies for recovery due to non-payment. For each of the above requests from 1a to 1e inclusive, please provide a breakdown by speciality, department, or similar categorisation | |
| Answer To Question 1: 1 (a-c) Please see attached exemption notice 1(d) Number – 28 Amount - £163k 1(e) Information not held | |
| Question Number 2: Please provide a breakdown by speciality, department, or similar categorisation of (i) the number of patients currently on a repayment plan with the trust for debt incurred under the charging policy and (ii) a breakdown by value of repayment - For example, the number of patients paying £1/month, £5/month, £10/month, etc. (see appendix 1 for example formatting). (2a) Please also provide the number of patients who entered a new payment plan with the trust, for each financial year from 2015-2023. | |
| Answer To Question 2: Please see attached exemption notice | |
| Question Number 3: Please share any formal or informal criteria, policies, procedures, or similar the trust currently uses or has used from 2015 - 2023 to determine how: (a) A patient's debt is managed (b)The trust agrees upon the value of a patient's monthly repayment plan. | |
| Answer To Question 3: 3(a) The Trust attempts to be paid in full at the time of treatment. If this is not possible it reviews the debt on an individual basis. 3(b) The Trust attempts to be paid in full at the time of the treatment. Any repayment plans are determined on an individual basis. | |
| Question Number 4: For each financial year from 2015-2023, please provide the total number of patients whose information has been shared with the Home Office in relation to a debt: (a) Greater than £500 owed for more than 2 months (b) Greater than £500 owed for less than 2 months (c) Less than £500 | |
| Answer To Question 4: We do not share information with the Home Office in relation to debt. | |
| To return to the list of all the FOI requests please click here |
Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
