A nurse at a mental health unit in Greater Manchester who swindled tens of thousands of pounds by falsely claiming he'd worked numerous extra shifts has been sentenced to prison. Dean Armitage, 33, was a ward manager at an undisclosed facility in Manchester, operated by the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).

His position granted him access to the trust's shift booking system, enabling him to create, assign and authorise additional shifts. During the peak of the Covid pandemic in April 2020, Armitage began exploiting his role and started creating backdated overtime shifts under his own name, according to prosecutors.

These were logged in the NHS staff bank, a system that allows employees to take on extra shifts beyond their contracted hours, typically to fill in for staff shortages, reports the . "Armitage mainly claimed for night shifts which are paid at a higher rate and because they were created after the event, they did not appear on any rota thus raising no suspicion" stated the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA).

This fraudulent activity continued until October 2021. The following month, irregularities were detected, leading to Armitage, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, being suspended while the trust's Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) conducted an investigation. Armitage, residing on Edmund Street, worked at a 'medium secure' unit where staff are required to use biometric data for entry and exit. Investigators were able to confirm that he was not even present at the hospital site during any of the shifts he had claimed payment for.

A rogue nurse swindled the NHS out of £72,632.72 by claiming wages and holiday pay for 185 shifts he never worked, according to the NHSCFA. He admitted his deceit at Bradford Crown Court last November and was handed an eighteen-month prison sentence on Thursday (May 15).

The Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) dismissed him for gross misconduct and reported him to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which has since suspended his nursing licence. Kevin Howells, Anti-Fraud Manager for GMMH, expressed satisfaction with the court's decision: "We welcome the outcome and sentencing in this case, given the very serious nature of fraud involved and the impact on NHS funds."

Howells further stated: "In addition to being permanently barred from working bank shifts for the trust again, Mr. Dean Armitage has been reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the independent regulator of nurses, midwives and nursing associates."

He also highlighted the trust's commitment to preventing such fraudulent activities: "In light of this case, we have sought assurance from the agency from which Mr Armitage was hired, that it has taken immediate action to tighten its procedures to protect the NHS from fraud of this nature in the future.

"GMMH is committed to the elimination of any type of fraud and will always rigorously investigate anything of this nature." Ben Harrison, Head of Operations at the NHSCFA, expressed satisfaction with the investigation's results: "We are pleased with the outcome of this investigation. I want to thank the trust, alongside both the LCFS and NHSCFA colleagues, for the action they took in this case."

He condemned the fraudulent actions, stating: "Armitage clearly exploited his position of trust to divert NHS funding from much-needed patient care."

Harrison also emphasised the significance of local efforts to combat fraud within the NHS: "This case highlights the importance and effectiveness of the local counter fraud efforts across the NHS in uncovering and taking action against individuals who commit this kind of fraud."