Foreign patients owe the NHS £40m In response to the figures Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's GP committee, said trusts must put in place arrangements "that ensure people cannot exploit the system." A spokesperson for St George's told Pulse: "A high percentage of our patients require life-saving trauma, neuroscience, cardiovascular or paediatric care. We're working hard to improve the way we record overseas patients and the debt recovery rate. Foreign nationals residing in the UK are entitled to free treatment on the NHS, but visitors from outside are expected to either have health insurance or the bill is sent to their country of origin. Dr Vautrey told the magazine: "Hospital trusts must put in place arrangements that ensure people cannot exploit the system. However, we need to be careful that we are not putting barriers in place that prevent people from getting access to healthcare. It can be quite challenging. It is too simplistic to call it health tourism. The reality is a lot more complex. The investigation comes days after campaigners warned GPs had too much freedom to register sick foreigners who may not be entitled to expensive British healthcare. Migration Watch UK claimed family doctors could decide whether to take on patients without identity documents and give them free treatment which should not be available to them. The group's chairman Sir Andrew Green said: "To allow such easy and potentially hugely-expensive access without any entitlement must be stopped at once, otherwise the NHS risks becoming the World Health Service." Last year, FoI requests from Tory MP Chris Skidmore showed £42 million in unpaid debts for treatment of foreign patients had been written off by primary care and foundation trusts. Health minister Simon Burns said: "We won't tolerate abuse of our National Health Service. The NHS has a duty to anyone whose life or long-term health is at immediate risk but it is not there to serve the health needs of the globe.