Hospital managers are bending the rules when it comes to their expenses and declaring sums well above the agreed norm, RTL Nieuws says on Tuesday.

The broadcaster conducted its own research and went through the expenses declarations of the eight university medical centres from 2013 and 2014. It found receipts for expensive wines, stays in top hotels and jolly outings.

For instance, the Amsterdam VU medical centre paid for snow chains for the winter sports holiday of its board chairman, Wouter Bos.

In Maastricht, dinner for 13 people included 11 bottles of wine and two of champagne. Expenses declared in Groningen include trips to a dolphinarium, to Paramaribo and to Suriname, noted down as ‘study trips’.

In total, the medical centres declared €17,500 for alcoholic drinks over the two years.