Optometrist pays penalty

A Leicester optometrist who defrauded the NHS by submitting thousands of pounds worth of false claims has been given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and been ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Jayesh Patel was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on January 23 following an NHS Counter Fraud Service investigation into numerous false claims he had made for services and products he had never provided. He was ordered to pay costs and £6,000 compensation to the NHS.

In December Patel had pleaded guilty to 20 charges of false accounting and two charges of forgery for NHS work totalling £5,796 at Leicester Magistrates Court. He also accepted 103 other counts that were taken into consideration.