How does the Trust fight fraud?

AuditOne, the Trust's counter fraud provider works closely with the trust to combat fraud. We have 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 suggest remedial action to reduce and mitigate these risks. We are experienced in carrying out timely criminal investigations, from referral to prosecution.

AuditOne is an NHS consortium providing counter fraud services to 15 NHS and independent health care provider organisations across the North of England. It is hosted by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and is a not-for-profit organisation. The Trust's counter fraud specialist is Stephen Veitch. 

Impact of fraud on the NHS

It is estimated that the NHS loses £1.21 billion per year, or roughly £3.3 million per day, to fraud. This is taxpayers' money that is taken away from patient care and falls into the hands of criminals. This is enough money to pay for over 40,000 staff nurses, or to purchase over 5,000 emergency ambulances. 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.

The Trust has a suite of policies that focus on staff and organisational behaviour. By following these policies, staff working in or associated with the trust can help prevent fraud.

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority have produced some useful reference and prevention guidance documents for NHS organisations. There are several fraud reference guides available. There are also eight quick guides, covering different types of procurement frauds to aid prevention of these types of fraud:

If you suspect fraud is occurring, you can help by reporting your suspicions confidentially to the counter fraud specialist.

Follow these simple guidelines when reporting your suspicions:

  • Do make an immediate note of your concerns
  • 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

Each NHS organisation is required to nominate a fraud champion whose role is to support the counter fraud specialist in promoting awareness of fraud across the trust. The trust's fraud champion is Kathrine Armstrong, Associate Director of Finance. Staff should be aware that fraud champions are not authorised to investigate allegations of fraud. Therefore, staff should not report suspicions to fraud champions.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is required to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing, or administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function in order to prevent and detect fraud. 

The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises. 

Data matching involves comparing sets of data such as the payroll records of a body against other records held by the same or another body to see how far they match.  The data is usually personal information. The data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified.  Where a match is found it may indicate that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation.  No assumption can be made as to whether there is fraud, error or another explanation until an investigation is carried out. 

We are a mandatory participant in the Cabinet Office's National Fraud Initiative; a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud.  We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching each exercise, as detailed on the www.gov.uk website. For further information on how the Trust uses your information, please refer to the Trust's Privacy Notice. 

The processing of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.  It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under data protection legislation or the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). 

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a code of data matching practice, also available on the www.gov.uk website.

The Cabinet Office has published its Data Privacy notice, which sets out how the Cabinet Office will use your personal data and your rights. The notice is made under Article 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

The legal basis for processing your personal data is that processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.

We want you to know that we take privacy very seriously.  Please be assured that we will always manage your data securely and responsibly. 

For further information on data matching at this organisation, please contact the Counter Fraud team by telephone: 0191 441 5936 or email: counterfraud@audit-one.co.uk.

Related publications

The Trust's counter fraud specialist can be contacted via the Fraud Hotline: 0191 441 5936 or by email: counterfraud@audit-one.co.uk. Alternatively, you can:

  • Report suspicions of fraud to the Executive Director of Finance
  • Contact the National Fraud and Corruption reporting line
  • Telephone 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.

Finally, you can report allegations of fraud online directly to the NHS Counter Fraud Authority.