// Fraud is costing the NHS £5bn a year, with a further £2bn lost to errors, the former head of its anti-fraud section says.
The report, by the University of Portsmouth and accountancy firm BDO, is due to be published on Tuesday.
The Department of Health said it "did not recognise" the figures.
It found that the biggest areas of fraud are in payroll and procurement budgets.
For example a consultant doing private work on NHS time or procurement wise; an optician charging for glasses which the patient never received or needed.
The £2bn cost of errors relate to when the NHS makes overpayments by mistake to suppliers or staff. //
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26654001
// A Freedom of Information request by the BBC shows that NHS Protect employs 27 counter-fraud specialists, with a further 294 investigators working at a local level.
By contrast, the Department for Work and Pensions employs six times the number of investigators - but if Mr Gee's figures are accurate, they face less than half the amount of fraud. //
Is the Government taking the problem seriously?