Brooks, Graham ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1220-2932 (2018) A sickness in the system: Understanding fraud and corruption in healthcare: A contribution from criminology. New Vistas, 4 (2). pp. 4-9.

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Abstract

In England and Wales we have an aging population and the cost of providing healthcare is increasing. Whilst demand for health services has swollen, and will continue to do so, funds made available for the NHS since 2010 have been low by historical standards. Due to perhaps negative coverage and criticism from the health care sector the Department of Health spent £124.7bn in 2017/18), £126.4bn in 2018/19, and will spend £127.2bn in 2019/20 on providing health care. Of the current level of spending in 2017/2018 £110 billion was spent on the NHS with the rest spent on public health (healthy eating habits), education, and infrastructure such as building new hospitals (Johnson et al. 2018). Out of these funds it is estimated that £1.25 billion per annum is lost to fraud (data from 2016/17, National Health Service Counter Fraud Authority, 2017).

Regardless of how we fund the NHS in the future a loss of £1.25 billion per annum is unacceptable. This loss, however, is with all crime data only an estimate and the £1.25 billion is below that of the actual level of fraud and corruption in the NHS. This article will address this issue with particular reference to the NHS in England and Wales but, where useful, make reference to international literature as well. It will offer a definition of fraud and corruption, but also highlight that fraud and corruption are often used interchangeably to define the same act. Once a definition is provided, I will review the contribution of sociology and criminology in developing theoretical frameworks to help us understand why people commit fraud and acts of corruption.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Fraud, Corruption, healthcare, Criminology
Subjects:	Law and criminal justice > Criminal justice > Criminology
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Graham Brooks
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2018 11:31
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2024 15:59
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/5657

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