Counter fraud service details its successes ahead of government investigation

The body tasked with rooting out NHS fraud in optical practices and other areas of the Health Service claims it has saved the country £478m. The Counter Fraud & Security Management Service, which has investigated several high profile cases in the profession Ð including that of one optometrist who was ordered to pay back £150,000 last year Ð will soon be scrutinised itself as part of an effort to save £0.5bn in red tape costs. Figures show that NHS resources invested in local counter fraud measures between 1998 and 1999 amounted to £700,000, but this expense rocketed to £5.5m between 2002 and 2003 after professionally trained counter fraud specialists started their work. This week it pre-empted the government investigation with a report on its progress half way through its 10-year plan to reduce fraud against the NHS 'to an absolute minimum'. Results include: 216 successful prosecutions and 275 successful civil, legal and disciplinary cases; the CFSMS has a 97 per cent successful prosecution rate; in some areas claims by NHS professionals have fallen 31-46 per cent after processes were 'fraud proofed'; overall, patient fraud has been cut by 49 per cent and between 1999 and 2002 the CFSMS calculated its work helped cut optical patient fraud by 23 per cent. Since its establishment in the late 1990s, the revenue saved represented a 13:1 return on the budgetary investment in this work. Jim Gee, chief executive of the CFSMS, said: 'Specialist processes to counter fraud and corruption are party of the public's definition of a modern organisation and in the last five years we have put in place a network of more than 400 professional counter fraud specialists across the NHS. 'This has resulted in dramatic reductions in fraud losses.'