Health Minister Lord Norman Warner has awarded the first degree certificates in counter fraud.
The BSc Honours in Counter Fraud and Criminal Justice Studies, developed by the NHS Counter Fraud Service and the University of Portsmouth, is the first of its kind in the world, it is claimed. The NHS CFSMS – Counter Fraud and Security Management Service – as the name suggests has had security bolted on to its original fraud remit.
Also honoured were 35 of the 8724 counter fraud specialists working in the private and public sector. They use their skills to protect combined resources of £600 billion and represent organisations as diverse as the NHS and Abbey National.
What they say
Health Minister Lord Warner said: "The award ceremony highlights how rapidly the counter fraud profession is growing. With 8724 professionally trained counter fraud specialists, using the skills they have learnt, across a multitude of private and public sector organisations, the UK has never been better protected. Between 1999 and 2004, NHS counter fraud staff saved the health service nearly £500m. Although this is a significant figure, it is one I expect to rise as more study for the degree. It will further their knowledge and allow them the opportunity to create new and innovative ideas to tackle fraud in the NHS."
Sue Sharpe, Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said: "Great progress has been made in the NHS in minimising and deterring fraud by patients and professionals, and also in detecting and dealing with individual cases. The savings to the NHS demonstrate the value of this work to us all. Those savings have been achieved through the development of expert and professional systems for tackling fraud, and gaining endorsement and support from health service providers."
Jim Gee, Chief Executive of the NHS Counter Fraud Service, and Vice Chair of the Counter Fraud Professional Accreditation Board said: "As one of the very first to push for the professionalisation of counter fraud work from 1997, it delights me to have reached this stage of development. The progress we have made in the NHS and the hundreds of millions of pounds that have been freed up for better patient care, show the real value of having professionally trained and accredited counter fraud specialists. These staff apply their skills across a functions ranging from risk measurement through cultural change to policy formulation. I am pleased, with the award of these first counter fraud degrees, that old images of people doing this work – from Raymond Chandler novels, or TV programmes such as the Bill or the Sweeney – can finally be firmly placed into the dustbin of history."
Background
The Counter Fraud Professional Accreditation Board (CFPAB), launched in October 2001 by former Health Minister Lord Philip Hunt (who resigned over the Iraq war) and former Work and Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks, is a professional body for counter fraud specialists. It sets conduct guidelines for all its members and develops training opportunities. The organisations involved in CFPAB are the NHS Counter Fraud Service, the Department of Health, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Inland Revenue, Local Government, the Post Office and the Abbey National. Between 1999 and 2004, counter fraud work cut pharmaceutical patient fraud by 60pc, dental patient fraud by 25pc, optical patient fraud by 23pc and, in some areas, fraud by NHS professionals by 31 to 46pc. Fraud detection rates have improved by more than 1400pc and there is a 97pc successful prosecution rate. Counter fraud measures have produced a financial benefit to the NHS of over £478 million, a 13:1 return on its budget, since 1999. To report any incident of suspected fraud in the NHS, you can call the Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line on 08702 400 100.
