Why might people have sympathy for fraudsters?
MIAA Anti-Fraud Specialist, Kevin Howells blogs about why some people may feel sympathy for a colleague who is committing fraud and the issues that this can cause.
I recently conducted a fraud staff survey for a client. The responses we get provide a wealth of useful information, not only in providing feedback on the information we produce – and which gets promoted at the NHS organisation – but also on the opinions and knowledge of NHS staff about fraud and, crucially, how they would respond should they identify a fraud.
What we, as counter fraud professionals, would like to see, is that 100% of survey respondents would report instances of fraud, and report it to us, the Anti-Fraud Specialists, but that is sadly never the case. In the 2021/22 Fraud Staff Surveys at one Trust, the responses to the question “What do you think may prevent you from reporting any suspicion of fraud, bribery and/or corruption that was happening at work?” threw up some interesting answers.
- 51% - Fear of repercussions
- 36% - Fear of raising concerns
- 33% - Sympathy with the individual(s)
Reasons 1. and 2. are dealt with quite easily, in that there is legislation in place to protect those raising concerns [The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) provides legal protection to workers “blowing the whistle”], and no-one should be penalised for raising a genuine concern such as a potential fraud (unless it is malicious). Although we understand why NHS staff may be reluctant to blow the whistle given the experience of those that did just that in the Lucy Letby case (admittedly not a fraud case). Also, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority enables concerns to be raised anonymously anyway, if needs be, by a confidential telephone line 0800 028 4060 or by filling in a form on their website.
When someone identifies a suspected instance of fraud in any organisation, I expect they first put themselves in the shoes of the alleged perpetrator and think “that could be me”. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis with spiralling fuel and food prices. It seems eminently reasonable for someone to think it is somehow morally wrong to report a hard-pressed Band 3 Healthcare Assistant, for example, and therefore understandable that they may not be keen on reporting them to their Anti-Fraud Specialist. The situation may be different if the fraudster were a medic or senior manager.
Remember though, if your clinical area is swamped, and management can’t provide more resources, the reason may be that fraudsters have taken some of the money that should be funding your department. Money lost to fraud at a Trust has a direct effect on the funding of the wards and departments at the Trust. More than a £1.26 billion pounds each year is lost to fraud in the NHS every year.
If you suspect fraud in your organisation, you can talk in confidence to your Anti-Fraud Specialist and also report fraud via the National Counter Fraud Authority confidential telephone line 0800 028 4060 or by filling in a form on their website.
Find out more about how to Stop Fraud.
