HEALTH boards in Scotland are chasing overseas patients for almost £2million in unpaid hospital bills.
Data revealed the amount owed by foreigners has more than doubled in the past two years.
The NHS in Scotland is at present trying to claw back £1.86 million for cases of 'health tourism'.
A number of boards revealed large debts ranging from Pounds 3,000 to more than Pounds 50,000 for treating a single patient.
Most debt is for treatment given in the past year, but one board is still pursuing a bill from 2003.
The bulk of outstanding charges are due from citizens of the USA, Canada, Nigeria, Pakistan and India and nearly half of the overall debt - Pounds 893,368 - is owed to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
In 2013, Scottish health boards were owed Pounds 1.1m by overseas patients - compared to Pounds 712,182 in 2012.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said the outstanding bills represented just 0.02 per cent of the country's £12bn health budget.
She said: "Scotland does not have a significant problem with overseas visitors failing to pay for NHS healthcare, and we welcome that the vast majority of overseas visitors settle their healthcare bill promptly.
"In addition, a proportion of the current outstanding monies will be owed by patients who have pending insurance claims or who have every intention of paying their bill."
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