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Our Quality and Safety Standards

At Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, the quality and safety of your care are our highest priorities. There are national and local standards, policies and procedures to ensure you have the best possible outcomes and experience.

We adhere to the NHS Constitution for our standards and waiting times. We are inspected and regulated by national organisations who ensure we provide services to expected levels and meet our commitments within the National Health Service. We also take very seriously the feedback we get from patients and visitors and respond to concerns when they arise.

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Counter-fraud

What is this service?

All NHS organisations are required by NHS Counter Fraud Authority (the NHS Body responsible for tackling all forms of crime against the NHS), to have in place a Counter Fraud Service to combat fraud, bribery and corruption, and help safeguard NHS resources. The role of the Counter Fraud Specialist (CFS) is to:

  • create an anti fraud culture
  • to deter potential fraud
  • to prevent fraud from occurring
  • to detect fraud that has occurred
  • to investigate all suspicions and allegations of fraud discovered or referred
  • to apply the appropriate sanctions where fraud has been proven
  • to recover money lost to fraud

 

What the Trust says

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust will not tolerate any economic crime committed against the NHS. The Trust has its own Counter Fraud Team, to ensure that any instances of fraud, bribery or corruption are dealt with thoroughly and appropriately.

It is our responsibility as a NHS Trust to ensure we maximise the resources used on providing care for our patients and service users and we will not tolerate instances where those resources are abused for the benefit of fraudsters.

We will follow the guidelines issued by NHS Counter Fraud Authority in combating economic crime to ensure that when necessary sanctions are applied when offences are identified.

For details of the Trust’s Anti-Fraud Policy please follow this link:  Local Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy [pdf] 103KB

How to Report Your Concerns

There are a number of ways you can report any concerns that you have to the Anti-Fraud Team.

  1. Complete the Fraud Reporting Form    
  2. Email the Counter Fraud Team directly using the email address - antifraudteam@cwaudit.org.uk
  3. You can also report any concerns via NHS National Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line on: 0800 028 40 60
  4. You can report fraud or corruption in the NHS using this secure and confidential online system which can be found using the website: https://cfa.nhs.uk/

 All concerns reported will be treated sensitively and in the strictest confidence. All concerns will be investigated and where appropriate the offenders prosecuted. It may also be necessary to involve the police in any investigation.

National Fraud Initiative

The Trust is about to take part in a National Fraud Initiative exercise. This takes place every two years and includes all NHS and Councils in England.

The Trust is required [by law] to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for; auditing, or administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function, in order to prevent and detect fraud.

The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises.

Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This is usually personal information. Computerised data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it may indicate that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation. No assumption can be made as to whether there is fraud, error or other explanation until an investigation is carried out.

The Trust participates in the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative: a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise, as detailed on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-fraud-initiative

The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice.

View further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information. 

For further information on data matching at the Trust, contact Fiona Dwyer, Counter Fraud Specialist at CW Audit by email: FDwyer@nhs.net