Fraud widespread claims shamed OO

Christopher Bateson, from Seaham, County Durham, was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and made to pay &\#163;1,000 costs at Teesside Crown Court. He admitted to 14 offences of false accounting between May 1994 and February 1996 - which amounted to defrauding the NHS out of &\#163;9,000 - and asked for one other offence to be taken into consideration. County Durham Health Authority has received a &\#163;30,000 repayment from Mr Bateson for money which had been wrongly claimed. Mr Bateson, 54, was reported to the Crown Prosecution Service in the summer (optician, News, July 3) after an audit of 501 patients found he had used patient records to make inflated claims for spectacles. David McFaul, prosecuting, said the offences included claims for two spectacles instead of one, supplying more expensive pairs, and claims for complete replacements when only minor repairs were carried out. The court heard that when police arrested him Mr Bateson said he was 'bitterly ashamed' of his actions, but stated other professionals were using similar methods. Since then Mr Bateson has paid the &\#163;30,000 settlement. But the court also heard that he now faced losing his business, his home, and being struck off the Opticians Register. Defending, David Robson QC, stressed his client had not enjoyed 'a Champagne lifestyle at NHS expense' and was thoroughly ashamed of his conduct. Mr Robson said that Mr Bateson had claimed that he used the money to provide a better service for his patients, and that he had wanted his business to survive in a competitive environment where much larger groups had made business tough for smaller companies. John Flook, director of finance at County Durham Health Authority, said: 'Prescription fraud is costing the NHS millions of pounds each year. It is good to see this issue being taken seriously.'