Bailiffs used to pursue NHS staff over pay errors
NHS payroll errors have resulted in thousands of staff being referred to debt collectors, according to a BBC investigation.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests shows referrals to bailiffs for recovering overpaid wages increased from 1,807 in 2020-21 to 2,683 in 2024-25.
Several NHS workers told the BBC that these referrals caused distress, stress, and financial difficulties.
A spokesperson for NHS England stated that a payroll improvement programme was immediately established after learning about these cases and the distress caused.
Dr Tom Horne's experience
Dr Tom Horne first discovered he had been overpaid by the NHS when he received a court summons.
"They're not thinking about the human being on the end of that debt collection letter... trying to pay their bills, live their life and pay the mortgage,"
said the 42-year-old father of two from Nottingham. His experience with Sherwood Forest NHS Trust, which operates King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, left him feeling stressed and angry.
He explained that during his employment, he was repeatedly underpaid, followed by a large payment which he assumed was correct.
"By the time I left [the] trust, they'd repeatedly underpaid me. They then paid me a big chunk at once - I assumed it was correct. Honestly, at that point I had no way of knowing,"
Horne discovered the payroll error six months after leaving the trust.
He received a debt collection letter and a county court date, which was his first experience with a court summons.
"It was scary at first, trying to work out what was going on,"
he added.
Horne said he was left worried and confused after receiving the bailiff's letter from a company instructed by Sherwood Forest NHS Trust.
Upon contacting the trust's HR team, he was informed they had attempted to contact him via a letter sent to an address he had not lived at for four years, despite him having updated his address multiple times.
"They could have just emailed me - instead they sent it over to bailiffs. They had forwarded it on and gone 'not our problem anymore'. They weren't in any way helpful or understanding of the situation that I was in,"
he said.
'Paid it in a panic'
After paying court fees, credit card interest, and additional tax, Horne was left significantly out of pocket.
"I think the original debt was £1,900. It was probably close to £3,000 once you've added in everything,"
he said.
"I don't even know if that was the right amount or if it had additional bailiffs fees - I just paid it in a panic to stop myself getting a county court judgment (CCJ)."
A CCJ is a court order issued when an individual fails to repay money owed, which can affect mortgage eligibility and result in higher interest rates.
Horne said his family had to make sacrifices to repay the debt.
"You have to think about how we're gonna pay the nursery fees this month,"
he said.
Sherwood Forest NHS Trust initially told the BBC they had not referred any employees to debt collectors but later apologised to Horne and stated they would learn from his case.
Widespread payroll errors across NHS trusts
A BBC Freedom of Information request sent to nearly every NHS trust in the UK revealed that tens of thousands of NHS staff are overpaid annually.
Of the 232 trusts and boards contacted, comparable data was received from 142.
The number of overpaid staff has remained roughly constant, but referrals to debt collection agencies and bailiffs have steadily increased.
Leicester University Hospitals referred 226 staff to debt collectors last year, the highest among trusts responding to the FOI request.
In a statement, the trust said,
"the use of debt collection agencies is always a last resort,"
and noted some cases involved historic overpayments addressed some time after the fact.
Dr Hamza Usman's case
Dr Hamza Usman also faced payroll issues.
"I was overpaid for three months continuously - despite repeatedly contacting payroll to inform them,"
he told the BBC.
Three months after finishing work for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, his family received a letter threatening court action.
Having moved to Australia to practise medicine, Usman expressed frustration that the trust did not resolve the issue while he was employed.
"It doesn't come as a surprise. It just is a mark of the incompetence in the bureaucracy,"
he said, adding that the NHS needs to improve its handling of payroll issues.
A spokesperson for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust apologised to those affected and said they are working to minimise payment errors.
Calls for change from trade unions
Trade unions representing NHS workers have called for urgent changes following the BBC investigation.
Emma Runswick, deputy chairwoman for the British Medical Association, said,
"We urge NHS bodies to urgently find the resources and effort to stop this happening,"
while Sharon Wilde, GMB's national officer for health, stated,
"Mistakes happen. When they do, trusts need to work sympathetically with staff to develop a payment plan, not charge in like a bull in a china shop."
'Compassionate approach'
NHS England announced plans to improve payroll processes.
Tom Simons, chief HR officer at NHS England, said,
"We have immediately established a payroll improvement programme after hearing about these awful cases and the distress caused, helping to substantially reduce payroll errors for the dozens of NHS trusts taking part."
Health minister Karin Smyth commented,
"NHS staff should not be out of pocket, threatened and pursued ruthlessly due to errors made by their employers. If trusts make errors with overpayments, we expect them to show a compassionate and reasonable approach with staff."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said,
"If any member of staff has been over paid, we expect employers to work compassionately with individuals to agree a repayment schedule."
A spokesperson for NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, which provides payroll services to NHS staff in Wales, stated,
"In line with NHS Wales recovery of overpayments guidance, debt collection agencies may be used as a last resort when all local attempts to recover outstanding public monies have been exhausted."
Northern Ireland's Department of Health said it does not use debt collection agents but may refer some debts to small claims court.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Fagg, Miriam Earp, and Amy Sharp.
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