The Health Secretary has urged NHS administrators to do more to prevent medical fraud, which may cost taxpayers up to £1.2 billion annually.
According to Stephen Barclay, NHS England hasn’t done enough to prevent thieves from pocketing funds intended for healthcare improvement.
He requests that authorities implement steps that make it more difficult for fraudsters to succeed in a letter to chief executive Amanda Pritchard, which was seen by the Daily Mail.
To reduce fraud loss, he continues, “A concentrated and coordinated effort will be necessary.”
According to estimates, primary care fraud costs the NHS £320 million annually and affects GPs, opticians, dentists, and pharmacists.
This may be as a result of employees billing for services they did not provide or clients claiming free care they were not entitled to.
A additional £336 million is wasted each year as a result of fraud in the commissioning and procurement of goods and services, mostly in hospitals.
According to the letter, public sector fraud undermines services, undermines public faith in government, and poses a danger to national security.
A properly resourced solution will provide quantifiable results that outweigh its cost.
‘The NHS must do more to identify areas prone to fraud and help weed out employees and patients who line their pockets by exploiting the system,’ a Department of Health source said last night.
NHS England takes public sector fraud “extremely seriously, and does everything it can to protect public money,” according to a spokesman.