Practice owner agrees to pay PCT £700k

A Wirral optician has agreed to pay £700,000 in an out of court settlement after a Liverpool PCT launched a civil action against him to recover thousands of pounds of fraudulently obtained overpayments and to recover legal expenses following a criminal conviction.

The settlement was reached after John Walsby-Tickle who owns 12 shops in Liverpool, Wirral, Warrington and Preston, was found guilty of six 'specimen' charges of fraud in 2003. The PCT said Walsby-Tickle had admitted to fraudulently claiming £600 from Liverpool Health Authority during 1996 and 1997, and was originally ordered to pay £30,000 for stealing from the NHS as well as paying court costs of £123,000 after a criminal case in 2003.