Fraud costs the NHS £1.29 billion a YEAR as officials say the stolen money could be enough to pay for 40,000 nurses or 5,000 new ambulances

• Patients are the biggest single group of fraudsters, costing around £341.7m
• But NHS staff, dentists, opticians, GP surgeries and pharmacies are all stealing
• Fraud will keep rising if the NHS doesn’t crack down, officials have warned

Fraud is costing the NHS nearly £1.3 billion each year, an official report has revealed.

Patients are conning the health service out of around £341.7 million, while its own staff are cheating it of £94.2 million.

And the money being lost could be enough to pay the wages of 40,000 nurses or buy 5,000 ambulances, experts say.

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority, set up in November last year, announced the damning numbers in its first annual report.

Officials have warned the amount people are stealing from the NHS will rise if action isn’t taken to stop it.

NHS staff are defrauding their employer out of around £94 million a year, but patients are thought to be conning the health service out of a huge £341.7m, a report has revealed

Money is being lost from across the health service, the body said: dentists are defrauding around £126.1 million, opticians £79 million and GP surgeries £88m.

Around £111 million is being lost to local pharmacies, and £35 million to people claiming healthcare in England which they’re not entitled to, The Times reported.

Other fraudulent activities involve the pensions of NHS staff, student bursaries, and legal claims.

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There were 45 criminal investigations being carried out at the end of March to try and prosecute fraudsters.

Last month, a dentist from Swansea – Elizabeth White – was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence for stealing at least £24,000 from the health service.

NHS CUTTING SERVICES TO SAVE MONEY 

Juggling a growing, ageing population with a tight budget has meant the NHS is tightening its purse strings and having to cut some services in order to save money:

Patients will be denied hip or knee replacements unless their pain is so severe they cannot sleep through the night.

In May many medicines stopped being available on NHS prescription. These include cough mixture, eye drops, laxatives, sun creams, paracetamol and anti-dandruff shampoo.

Other proposals unveiled in March 2017 include new health tourism rules for GPs to ensure they record all EU patients and enable the NHS to claw back money from their home countries.

Fresh bed-blocking targets were set for hospitals to free up a set number of beds currently occupied by elderly patients who should be at home.

There are plans to ensure that NHS managers stop hiring expensive locum doctors who earn up to £200,000 a year. 

She repeatedly claimed money from the NHS for work she had never done, or split multiple procedures from the same appointment into separate claims to increase the amount she was paid.

Ms White paid £34,000 back to the NHS for the 398 false claims she had made.

Sue Frith, the interim chief executive of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: ‘Fraud always undermines the NHS, with every penny lost to fraud impacting on the delivery of vital patient services.

‘If fraud is left unchecked, we believe losses will increase.’

The report said there was no such thing as a ‘typical’ fraudster in the NHS, and added staff may be afraid of reporting fraud in case it gives the health service a bad reputation.

Simon Hughes, the authority’s interim chairman, said: ‘Ensuring public money pays for services the public needs and doesn’t line the pockets of criminals means we all benefit from securing NHS resources.’

In March, a locksmith working for Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London was sent to prison for six years for conning the NHS out of nearly £600,000.

Andrew Taylor, 55, from Southwark in London, was the new authority’s first conviction and was found to have been massively overcharging the NHS for his services.

And a neurology nurse, also from Southwark, was jailed for 16 months for doing shift work while she was on sick leave from her main job.

Vivian Coker, 53, was paid £32,000 from her salary during 21 months of sick leave in 2014 to 2016, but was paid for other work during that time. 

Figures released earlier this year revealed the NHS has been ‘haemorrhaging’ nurses as 33,000 quit in the space of one year.

One in 10 nurses leave their position in England every 12 months, the data showed – enough to staff more than 20 hospitals.

Of those who have quit, more than half are under 40. Many cited stress and rising workloads behind their decision to leave.

It comes after Prime Minister Theresa May promised the NHS would receive an extra £384 million a week after Brexit.

In a major announcement to mark the 70th anniversary of the health service, the PM said it would receive an additional £20 billion a year in real terms funding by 2024.

Taxes and borrowing are expected to rise to pay for the cash boost, and resources will be redirected from the more than £9 billion a year the UK currently pays into the EU.

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