UK CLAIMS MASSIVE SAVINGS FROM ANTI-FRAUD OPERATIONS

UK government healthcare provider the National Health Service has claimed that anti-fraud initiatives have saved the organisation some GBP675mn (US$1.19bn) since 1998. The NHS also claims that its Counter Fraud Service has a 96% success rate in criminal prosecutions, and reports a sharp decline in corrupt activity among staff and patients.

Meanwhile, these claims of success come as two criminal investigations into alleged price-fixing by major generics companies draw to a close in the UK. Two leading international firms recently settled in an NHS investigation, but reports claim that positive results in a separate probe by the failure-prone Serious Fraud Office (SFO) are less likely. The SFO is expected to bring a formal prosecution in October.