Counter fraud service saves the NHS £675m

14 Jul 05
A crackdown on racketeering and deceit against the health service has saved £675m and cut patient fraud by 54% in the past seven years, the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service said this week.

15 July 2005

A crackdown on racketeering and deceit against the health service has saved £675m and cut patient fraud by 54% in the past seven years, the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service said this week.

The CFSMS aims to reduce dishonesty against the health service to 'an absolute minimum' by 2008/09. It said almost £52m had been spent on counter-fraud activity between its establishment in 1998/99 and 2004/05 but it calculated it had saved the NHS £675m in return.

Losses from patients who wrongly claimed free prescriptions fell from £117m in 1998/99 to £47m in 2003/04.

The cost of fraud from dental patients was reduced from £40m to £21m over the same period. Between 1998/99 and 2004/05 fraudulent claims from dentists fell from £14.3m to £6.6m.

The cost of dishonesty from optical patients also fell from £13.25m to around £10m.

The value of fraud detected and stopped rose from just under £40,000 in 1998/99 to £79.4m in 2004/05. The CFSMS made 292 criminal prosecutions, with a 96% success rate. More than £22m had been recovered over the seven-year period.

CFSMS chief executive Jim Gee said his service was producing a 13:1 return on investment in counter-fraud work.

'These results show what the NHS can achieve when it is determined to tackle a problem. They are no flash in the pan but the product of sustained, consistent work. We have worked with the vast honest majority to make it clear to the minority who perpetrate fraud that their actions are completely unacceptable,' he added.

The CFSMS would not rest on its laurels. 'We know that financial demands on the NHS for improved standards of clinical care mean that there can be no

let-up in protecting its resources. The more we can protect NHS resources, the better the NHS can protect the public's health.'

NHS Confederation chief executive Gill Morgan said the figures were 'great news' for the service. And she added: 'They demonstrate how effectively counter-fraud specialists have worked with NHS managers and clinical staff to tackle this problem. Any measures that enable us to spend more money on patient care – and lose less money to the fraudsters – should be celebrated.'

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