Health treatment cheats told to give back £40,000

More than 40,000 has been fraudulently claimed by patients for a range of treatments in the past year.

People wrongly taking free prescriptions made up a significant proportion of fraudulent claims, with 377 local people being made to pay the cash back.

A further 343 cases involving dental and eye-care appointments were listed.

It is understood the majority of cases discovered by NHS fraud teams involved people who were receiving either income or incapacity benefits they shouldn't have qualified for, and thus getting free medical treatment as a result.

Fraud in all forms from both staff and patients is thought to cost NHS Lothian around 3 million a year, but much of it is near impossible to measure or prove.

The culprits were found by the NHS Counter Fraud Services team in Scotland, which carries out annual checks on people who have received free prescriptions, free dental care and vouchers for glasses. It undertakes checks on 60,000 claims each year.

The organisation said it was possible some people, particularly the elderly, may have made mistakes in good faith.

Conservative Lothians MSP Gavin Brown said: "It is wholly unacceptable that any sums are being defrauded from NHS Lothian and diverted away from front-line services.

"There must be much stiffer penalties being imposed on those that do defraud health services and they must be charged to the full extent of the law. Such a zero tolerance approach is required in order to tackle these types of crimes."

In the past year, the law has begun to crack down more on NHS staff who trick money from the health board.

Three former employees were convicted of fraud in court last year, and health bosses have issued a warning to anyone else thinking about playing the system, whether staff or patients.

A spokeswoman for Counter Fraud Services said: "Any fraud against the NHS takes money away from patient services.

"Where patients are deliberately attempting to defraud the NHS or refusing to pay the relevant charge, CFS will recover the appropriate charges and penalties."

The Evening News obtained the fraud figures under Freedom of Information. It was also revealed that more than 3000 owed by foreign patients who received care while in Edinburgh but returned home has been written off.

One patient on benefits believed to be claiming travel expenses for hospital trips they never embarked on cost 82.