More private patients are being treated at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary – but some are failing to pay their bills.
Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust has performed 10 private operations in the first seven months of 2013 – more than all of the past four years combined.
The surge in procedures has been almost exclusively eye operations for squints and cataracts.
The 10 non-NHS operations are worth more than £10,000 to the trust but five patients have so far failed to pay and are being pursued for their debts.
Figures released by the trust reveal it is currently owed more than £5,000 from procedures in June and July.
A report released earlier this year admitted the trust had frequently been unable to make private patients cough up for their treatment.
It is thought that arguments between insurance companies and the trust have led to patients not being able to pay.
In June the trust’s board said they had written off £54,000 in debt to non-paying private patients over the past six years – including £19,000 in 2012/13.
Figures released last month under the Freedom of Information (FOI) rules indicate some of the missing debt was eventually tracked down.
In 2006 the trust performed 11 private procedures worth more than £25,000 but it has not revealed if all of that was paid.
Most operations between 2007 and 2012 have been paid in full.
Two from 2012 are being paid in instalments along with three from earlier this year.
The trust’s finance chief, Keith Griffiths, said they would only write off debt if it cost more to pursue it than the bill was worth.
He said: “We have had a thorough review, cleared a lot of outstanding debts and have now simplified our billing processes so patients are clear what they will be charged.
“This enables patients to make sure their insurance covers all their care or to make sure they have sufficient personal funds to cover all the aspects of the care we provide.
“We always take a prudent approach to all outstanding debts and continue to pursue them.”
Earlier this year NHS campaigners hit out at a change in policy that allowed NHS trusts to earn up to 49% of their income from private work.
They were previously capped at about 2%.
An FOI by Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas has revealed 40 NHS trusts are planning to open private units in a bid to boost their income.
Mr Thomas said he feared it could lead to a “two-tier NHS”.
He said: “The huge expected rise in income from private patients is a further sign of an underfunded NHS.
“These figures confirm that the NHS under David Cameron is increasingly offering a two-tier service – pay privately and you’ll be seen quickly, don’t pay privately and join an increasingly long waiting list.”
Mr Griffiths declined to confirm if the surge in eye patients was a strategic move by Calderdale and Huddersfield Trust.
He said: “Our trust cared for 119,000 NHS inpatients last year so the number of private patients represents an incredibly small proportion of the care we provide.
“With regards to numbers, under the NHS charter all NHS Trusts are legally entitled to deliver care for private patients and the nationally permitted ceiling is that private patient income cannot exceed 49% of the Trust’s total income.
“Our private patient income in the past three years has represented 0.14% and 0.12% and 0.13% of our total income.”
The benefits of being treated privately in the NHS include choosing your own consultant and receiving faster treatment.
Patients also receive a personal medical and nursing team and quicker access to any additional help required.
