ABDO joins signatories to combat NHS fraud

Alan Parkhurst, president of ABDO, joined health minister Lord Hunt and representatives of more than 100 patient groups at the Department of Health to endorse the Government's campaign. Mr Parkhurst said: 'I welcome this opportunity of confirming our determination to uphold the highest professional standards. 'In signing the charter on behalf of the association we are giving a clear signal to the profession, our patients and our customers that we regard fighting fraud as an important part of a dispensing optician's role.' At the signing, Lord Hunt launched a new series of counter fraud charters with 113 patient representative groups, including the Royal National Institute for the Blind and The Long Term Medical Conditions Alliance. Lord Hunt said: 'We are determined to root out fraud in the NHS. Our efforts to tackle fraud have already saved us almost &\#163;50m, and every pound lost to fraud is a pound lost from patient care.' He called fraudulent professionals a 'tiny minority' and hoped that by working together with professional bodies and patient groups they would be isolated. The health minister promised to develop further preventative measures with the help of the organisations that have signed the charters. A series of counter fraud charters were signed in December 1999 by the British Medical Association, British Dental Association, Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians, the Association of Optometrists and the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee. The fraud charters are part of the action by the Directorate of Counter Fraud Services (DCFS) to reduce fraud throughout the NHS to an absolute minimum within 10 years.