Social security

Doctors in the UK have received offers in excess of £100,000 from private healthcare companies in return for referring patients to their hospitals, an investigation has found.

Land registry records show that private healthcare firms also provide free accommodation in expensive areas of London to many independent doctors’ practices in exchange for patient referrals.

Official guidelines state that doctors must not allow financial interests to affect their treatment of patients.

A major health insurance company made the discovery in June 2012 and presented its evidence to the profession’s regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), which failed to act on the information.

Cash for referrals’ scandal: Doctors offered ‘six-figure sums’ to push private care