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NHS Payroll Errors: Staff Face Debt Collectors
17 Feb
Summary
- Thousands of NHS staff are being wrongly sent to debt collectors.
- Referrals to bailiffs for overpaid wages have significantly increased.
- Staff report distress, stress, and debt due to payroll errors.
Thousands of NHS workers are facing aggressive debt collection tactics due to payroll errors, a BBC investigation revealed. The number of referrals to bailiffs for overpaid wages has escalated from 1,807 in 2020-21 to 2,683 in 2024-25. These payroll blunders have caused immense distress, stress, and debt for affected staff.
One doctor, Dr. Tom Horne, only learned of an overpayment when a court summons arrived, his experience highlighting the human cost. He faced escalating debt and personal sacrifices to resolve an issue stemming from incorrect pay and poor communication from his trust.
While tens of thousands of staff are overpaid annually, there's a worrying rise in trusts using debt collection agencies. Leicester University Hospitals, for instance, referred 226 staff to debt collectors last year. NHS England has launched a payroll improvement programme to address these "awful cases" and reduce errors.
