From the BBC:
The NHS fraud squad is investigating GPs in England amid suspicions they are claiming for non-existent patients.
Doctors get an average of £150 a year for each patient on their list, but records show there were 3.6 million more patients in the system last year than there were people in England.
The discrepancy prompted NHS England to employ [Crapita] to start chasing up these so-called ghost patients.
The NHS Counter Fraud Authority is now launching its own investigation.
... in the following order
1. Whoever thought it was a good idea to pay each GP a quarter of a million quid a year in the first place. From the article:
The average GP has around 1,700 patients on their list so the payments make up a significant chunk of their income.
1,700 x £150 = £255,000, and that's just a 'significant chunk'. How much more do the buggers get?
2. Whoever thought it was a good idea to pay GP's on this basis (rather than work actually done).
3. Whoever let things slide for so long rather than crunching the numbers every year as a matter of routine.
4. Whoever thought it was a good idea to throw money at Crapita for doing something which the NHS Fraud Authority is (or should) be doing.
5. A few GPs and their chief receptionists who must have been complicit in the whole scam, pour encourager les autres.
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