§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the amount of fraud in the NHS; and what research his Department has commissioned to estimate the level of unidentified fraud in the NHS.[144591]
§ Mr. HuttonThe National Health Service Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (NHS CFSMS) has an on-going programme of highly accurate risk measurement exercises—accurate to plus or minus 1 per cent.—designed to reveal levels of losses and, through repeated exercises, reductions in such losses, where they take place.
Phase one of these exercises concentrated on patient fraud. The tables show the results.
1122W
£ million Year data selected Fraud losses Pharmaceutical patient fraud 1998–99 117 1999–2000 69 Dental patient fraud 1999–2000 40.3 2000–01 30 Optical patient fraud 1999– 2000 13.25 2001– 02 10.17 A statistically valid sample of those prescriptions prescribed during March 2003 has been taken and a further measurement exercise has been completed. Further reductions in pharmaceutical patient fraud are anticipated and figures will be produced later this month.
Phase two of the programme is now focussing on contractor fraud within the NHS. As the measurement programme extends, it will enable NHS CFSMS to accurately assess the totality of NHS fraud.
Total patient fraud losses have reduced from approximately £170 million to £109.17 million per year, a reduction of 36 per cent. since the creation of NHS CFSin 1998.
Fraud in the NHS is not acceptable. It deprives the NHS of the resources needed for the delivery of patient care and the continuing improvement of frontline services.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what work the NHS counter-fraud unit is undertaking on the use of agency staff in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [144595]
§ Mr. HuttonThe National Health Service Counter Fraud Service, now Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS), was created in 1998 with a remit to tackle fraud and corruption within the NHS. So far, it has produced a financial benefit to the NHS of more than £295 million. It works with more than 400 professionally trained and accredited local counter fraud specialists covering every health body in England and Wales.
NHS bank and agency staff are an integral part of the NHS work force, but there is, unfortunately, a small minority of these staff who take advantage of the NHS and its resources. CFSMS have identified bank and agency timesheet fraud as a significant area of fraud and investigations, to date, have resulted in 33 criminal prosecutions. Some of the individuals involved have received terms of imprisonment ranging from nine to 21 months. Criminal prosecution is not the only action taken and CFSMS pursues a parallel sanctions policy, seeking to combine appropriate disciplinary procedures with civil action to freeze and recover assets.
The CFMS is engaged in a national proactive exercise aimed at highlighting system and policy weaknesses in the NHS. As a result, information will be sent to the whole of the NHS in England and Wales on how to improve systems, stop the fraudulent practices that put resources at risk and prevent hank and agency staff fraud in the future. Local counter fraud specialists in NHS organisations that use bank and agency staff have 1123W been required to check agency staff records, including timesheets, uncover incidents of fraud, assess systems used to monitor agency staff and deliver fraud awareness presentations to agency staff.
This is the first of several exercises to be developed by CFSMS that will see NHS counter fraud specialists proactively detect and investigate fraud and where necessary apply tough sanctions.