Millions of euro are owed by patients who have presented to local hospitals in the last number of years for a variety of procedures and treatments.
According to figures published in the Irish independent, the HSE was owed more than €40m in total by patients who failed to pay bills after being discharged.
€4.9million was owed to Galway University hospital in relation to fees linked to road traffic crashes, €1.3million related to Emergency Department services and €2.4million for in-patient fees.
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Over half a million euro was also owed to Sligo University hospital for fees linked to its ED last year.
