£300m of NHS fraud was prevented over past four years, agency says

The agency charged with dealing with fraud in the NHS has estimated that over the past four years it has prevented £300m ($500m; €430m) worth of fraud committed by patients and healthcare professionals.

The NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service, formerly the NHS Counter Fraud Service, published its figures last week for 1999 to 2003.

Its report, Protecting your NHS, shows that losses attributable to fraud by patients have fallen by over a third over that period—from £171m to £109m. Fraud committed by health professionals has fallen by up to 40% in some professions.

The service's specific targets were …