Hospital agency worker imprisoned for £18K fraud

An agency worker who was overpaid by over £18,000 after submitting forged timesheets was recently sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment  at Sheffield Crown Court. David Steven Sammons, earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. This followed an investigation by Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust’s Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS), supported by the NHS Counter Fraud Service (NHS CFS).

Sammons, 30, was employed at Rotherham General Hospital in August 2007 in the hospital’s medical records department through the Adecco UK Employment Agency. Sammons was required by the agency to submit his timesheets to them after they had been countersigned by a hospital staff member. When submitted, Adecco would invoice the hospital for payment.

In February 2008 it emerged that Sammons had been submitting falsified timesheets with forged signatures. These included claims for a period after he had finished working for the Trust. Between 10th August 2007 and 29th October 2007 he also submitted timesheets containing false details of shifts he had never worked.

He made £18,000 in false claims and made attempts to defraud a further £3,000, which were blocked as a result of the investigation. The LCFS obtained timesheets and witness statements from staff both within the NHS and at Adecco. He was assisted by Rotherham Police and the NHS Counter Fraud Service’s East Midlands team.

Steve Guillon, East Midlands Operational Fraud Manager for the NHS CFS said: “Any suspicions of fraud against the NHS should be reported. They will be followed up and, wherever appropriate, we will thoroughly investigate, pressing for prosecution and the strongest sanctions.”

In sentencing Judge Robertshaw described the offence as a “calculated, systematic, deliberate fraud” perpetrated against “ a cherished public body providing a valuable service to the nation”.