Ambulance trust agrees to write off £340k of unrecoverable debt
The region's ambulance service has agreed to write off around £340,000 of debts deemed unrecoverable.
At a meeting of West Midlands Ambulance Service's (WMAS) trust board, members agreed to sign off on the plan, to write off a total of £339,0000 owed to the service.
As part of the move the trust has also agreed to have its own staff carry out debt collection services – rather than a debt recovery agency.
Karen Rutter, Interim Director of Finance at the trust, said: "Going forward debt collection is being undertaken in house."
The board was told that it is good practice to write off unrecoverable debts, so that they do not inflate the value of the trust's assets.
A report said: "There are a number of aged balances included in the receivables (debtors) balances. It is good practice to review these balances regularly and assess the likelihood of settlement.
"Any balances deemed to be irrecoverable should be written off so as not to inflate the trust’s asset value."
The report also explained plans to take over debt collection services.
It said: "The trust has previously engaged TNC who are a debt recovery agency.
"These types of arrangements are usually provided on the basis of a commission charged against the amount recovered. TNC has had limited success with WMAS debts and no recovery has been made in recent years.
"To ensure that prompt follow up and recovery processes are undertaken, a member of the existing debtors staff is being trained to undertake the debt recovery responsibilities."
