Ormond St loses £3m as patients fail to pay bills

London hospitals are being forced to write off millions of pounds in "bad debts" from private patients who do not pay their bills.

In the last year Great Ormond Street wrote off £3million while Chelsea & Westminster had to forget £1million in fees. A spokesman for the children's hospital said: "Historically, the issue has been slowness in recovering sums due rather than failure to pay."

As of last June, the biggest single debtor was the Kuwait health office, with outstanding invoices of £ 2.8million after £1 million of debt had been written off. Bupa owed £280,300 after £86,000 was written off, according to figures in Health Service Journal.

The journal said Chelsea & Westminster had to write off 17 per cent, or £1million, of the £5.6million it earned from private patients. The article said it was unknown how much Moorfields Eye Hospital wrote off, although four per cent of £7.9million was still owed at the six-month mark. Trade union Unison has threatened a judicial review.

Steven Pink, of Bupa, said: "We pay over 95 per cent of our accounts within two weeks of receipt."

Bupa had recently cleared a debt with Great Ormond Street.