Hospital fraudster locked up

Agency worker David Sammons was jailed for a year for fraud after submitting forged timesheets.

Sammons (30), from Swinton, pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud following an investigation by NHS Rotherham Foundation Trust’s counter fraud specialist.

Sentencing Sammons at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Patrick Robertshaw described the offence as a “calculated, systematic, deliberate fraud” perpetrated against “a cherished public body providing a valuable service to the nation.”

Sammons was employed at Rotherham General Hospital from August 2007 in the hospital’s medical records department through the Adecco UK Employment Agency.

He was required by the agency to submit his timesheets 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 August 2007 and 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 was were blocked as a result of the investigation.

Sammons was first arrested by police in April 2008 and later admitted to making fraudulent claims for 46 shifts.

He submitted 151 false timesheets between August 2007 and February 2008.

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust’s counter-fraud specialist, Neil Mohan, said: “This is a big result for the trust and the NHS.

“Fraud costs the NHS millions of pounds every year and we are tying to do our bit to stop that.

“Prosecutions like this send out a stark message that it is not acceptable to defraud a public body.

“We take fraud very seriously and investigate any potential false claims against the trust.”