We take our responsibilities to protect our resources against fraud, bribery and corruption seriously.
In 2016-17 losses to fraud in the NHS were estimated at £1.25 billion per annum – enough money to pay for over 40,000 staff nurses, or to purchase over 5,000 frontline ambulances. This is taxpayers’ money that is taken away from patient care and falls into the hands of criminals. When we say ‘fraud’, we refer to a range of economic crimes, such as fraud, bribery and corruption or any other illegal acts committed by an individual or group of individuals to obtain a financial or professional gain.
We use an internal NHS consortium which provides counter fraud services to 33 trusts across the North of England called auditone.
They work closely with the trust to combat fraud with a team of experienced counter fraud specialists delivering a full range of counter fraud, bribery and corruption services including prevention, detection and investigation. Our professionally qualified counter fraud specialists work to identify potential fraud, bribery and corruption risks through policy and system reviews and suggests remedial action to reduce and mitigate these risks. They are experienced in carrying out timely criminal investigations, from referral to prosecution.
If you suspect fraud is occurring, you can help by reporting your suspicions confidentially to the fraud hotline.
Follow these simple guidelines when reporting your suspicions:
- Do make an immediate note of your concern
- Do deal with the matter promptly if you feel your concerns are warranted
- Don’t do nothing
- Don’t be afraid to raise your concerns
- Don’t approach or accuse individuals yourself
- Don’t try to investigate the matter yourself
Contact our counter fraud specialists.
They deal with all reports of suspected fraud in the strictest confidence. You will be informed of the progress of the investigation and you will not suffer any recriminations from voicing reasonably held suspicions.
Fraud Hotline: 0191 441 5936
Email: counterfraud
Contact the National Fraud and Corruption reporting line
Alternatively, you can phone the National Fraud and Corruption reporting line 0800 028 40 60
All calls are made in strictest confidence and no attempt will be made to persuade you to provide your personal details if you want to remain anonymous. You will be given a call reference number which you can quote if you phone again with additional information.
Counter Fraud Awareness videos
The following links below illustrate common types of fraud that occur within the NHS.
Bribery and corruption
Statement of Compliance for Bribery Act 2010
On 1 July 2011 the Bribery Act came into force. The Bribery Act applies to all commercial and NHS organisations, and provides a new consolidated scheme of bribery offences.
The Act contains two general offences covering the offering, promising or giving of a bribe and the requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of a bribe. It also sets out two further offences which specifically address commercial bribery:
- Bribery of a foreign public official in order to obtain or retain business or an advantage in the conduct of business
- A new form of corporate liability for failing to prevent bribery on behalf of a commercial organisation.
Our Board and executive team are against any form of bribery and are committed to the terms and obligations imposed by the Bribery Act. It is a duty of all our staff to consider any hospitality offered to them, inform their line manager of the offer, and to declare any such hospitality on the gift and hospitality tegister.
When entering in to contracts with organisations , we follow the NHS standard terms and conditions of contract for the purchase of goods and supplies.
If you suspect that bribery or corruption has or is taking place, please contact the counter fraud team at auditone on:
Telephone: 0191 441 5936
Email: counterfraud