Doctors increasingly referred to bailiffs over NHS pay errors, BMA warns

Posed by a model. Getty/Srdjanns74

By Erin Dean

Doctors appear to be increasingly referred to bailiffs after NHS payroll errors following “astonishing incompetence” from employers, the British Medical Association has warned.

A BBC investigation found referrals to bailiffs to collect overpaid wages from NHS employers across the UK has increased from 1,807 in 2020-21 to 2,683 in 2024-25.