Fraud accounts for around 4.1 million incidents each year, or roughly 41% of all crime against individuals in England and Wales. As the UK’s most common crime, fraud, bribery, and corruption put publicly funded healthcare at risk, diverting resources from frontline services and undermining public trust. In 2024-25, we estimate that £1.346 billion2 of NHS funding is vulnerable. Protecting these resources is essential to delivering safe, effective healthcare and value for taxpayers.
The nature of fraud is evolving rapidly, driven by digital technology, complex financial arrangements, and fragmented delivery models. As the NHS modernises under its 10- Year Health Plan, fraud risks are changing, and this strategy sets out how the health sector must embed an improved counter fraud response alongside system change to further reduce loss and remain resilient against fraud.
Fraud and corruption can directly affect frontline resources reducing clinical capacity and undermining the quality and continuity of healthcare including patient safety. New healthcare models, digital delivery and innovative approaches to prevention offer significant opportunities but also introduce new fraud vulnerabilities. Fraud risks increasingly arise at the intersection of technology, procurement, data, and local decision-making. Counter fraud must therefore be embedded in system design and reform rather than applied after losses occur.
At the core of our strategy are principles rooted in ‘Counter Fraud by Design’, embedding fraud resilience into practice, decision-making, governance, accountability and system design. We will build on established foundations and maximise technology, automation and data analytics to prevent, detect and respond to fraud more efficiently. Wherever possible, we will automate our processes and use technology to innovate and improve.
Where it delivers value for taxpayers, we will explore revenue generation opportunities for elements of our work, including technology tools, data analytics and international engagement. We will deliver our work in close partnership with the DHSC Anti-Fraud Unit, NHS England, NHS Business Services Authority, regulators, health bodies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the wider counter fraud community, sharing learning to strengthen practice across the NHS. Our investigations will be conducted with professionalism and integrity and we will seek to prosecute where necessary and appropriate. We will share our learning from each investigation at the earliest opportunity, using the intelligence gathered to deepen sector-wide understanding of fraud and enable more targeted, proactive counter fraud activity.
This strategy is based on three ambitions that reflect the direction of NHS reform: embedding fraud prevention into new healthcare models; accelerating the transition from analogue to digital through smarter use of data and technology; and shifting from reactive response to prevention by identifying fraud risks earlier and addressing them systematically. A new, collaborative, counter fraud operating model will align with NHS structures. This strategy paves the way for a longer-term ambition where counter fraud is embedded in frontline services to protect the health sector from fraud and enable delivery of health objectives.
This strategy is a call to action. Building fraud resilience requires visible leadership, strong financial stewardship, and collective responsibility across the health system. Those who design, commission, and deliver NHS services will be supported to act with integrity, informed by high-quality intelligence and a skilled counter fraud community. Through prevention, detection, response, and assurance, we will protect public resources, support patient care, and uphold trust in the NHS.
Alex Rothwell
Chief Executive Officer
NHS Counter Fraud Authority