On 7th March 2023, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHS CFA) published an article regarding a Crown Court case where two men were found guilty of theft, fraud and bribery act offences against the NHS, with a third man entering a guilty plea prior to the seven-week trial commencing. The total value of all offences amounted to over £600,000.

Key Points

The court heard that a Theatre Manager at an NHS Trust was in a position of responsibility and was able to procure medical equipment on behalf of the Trust. As part of his role, he was required to make purchase order requests for items required for surgical procedures carried out within the hospital.

The investigation undertaken by the NHS CFA was able to prove that the Theatre Manager was in a relationship with two Trust suppliers and he accepted bribes to ensure that the Trust procured medical equipment from these two suppliers.

In addition, the Theatre Manager was also convicted of receiving payments from two further Trust suppliers. He had ordered goods from these two suppliers that he himself had supplied to them, and in return received at least two-thirds of the value of the goods invoiced.

As part of the investigation, the house of the Theatre Manager was searched with medical equipment and surgical instruments being recovered with a value of over £65,000. These had been stolen from the Trust.

The Theatre Manager was found guilty of theft, fraud and bribery offences, with the two suppliers guilty of bribery. All three men are due to be sentenced at a later date.

More details are available via the web link below

https://cfa.nhs.uk/about-nhscfa/latest-news/Two-men-found-guilty-of-fraud-and-bribery

(Briefing note compiled from source material)

Prevention

Robust policies and processes in place including:

  • Separation of duties in procurement processes and invoice authorisations
  • Due diligence checks on suppliers
  • Asset registers maintained and kept up to date
  • Adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery such as Standards of Business Conduct policies and registers of interest Action Required Audit Committees and Boards to seek assurance on controls in place to prevent procurement fraud and theft of NHS equipment, and to ensure organisations have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.
Action Required

Audit Committees and Boards to seek assurance on controls in place to prevent procurement fraud and theft of NHS equipment, and to ensure organisations have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

For further discussion and support, including fraud awareness training services, contact: fraud@tiaa.co.uk