Fraud carried out by staff and patients could be costing the NHS up to £5.7bn every year, a report claims.
A review of fraudulent activities within the NHS has recently been published by PKF Littlejohn accountants.
Co-authors Jim Gee, former director of NHS Counter Fraud Services, and Professor Mark Button, director of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at Portsmouth University, cited instances of fraud amongst GPs, pharmacists, dentists and patients.
The areas most affected were procurement, prescriptions, payroll and the registration of patients.
Specific examples include GPs creating ‘ghost patients’, dentists claiming for NHS work that has not been provided, and pharmacists not declaring prescription charges that have been paid.
In total it is estimated that fraud could be costing the NHS between £3.7bn and £5.7bn a year.
Payroll was the area with the highest losses, with false allowance claims and incorrect qualifications costing between £555m and £1.49bn.
The report also claims that £304 million is lost through patient fraud, with false claims for free prescriptions and dental care being amongst some of the problems reported.
The government has responded to the review, saying it is inconsistent and “highly speculative”.
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