The NHSCFA’s counter fraud standards were issued on 14 January 2020.
The 2020-21 counter fraud standards are not materially different from the previous edition. The layout and format of the standards are also unchanged from last year.
It is the responsibility of the organisation as a whole to ensure it meets the required standards. A range of departments are likely to be involved in helping the organisation to meet them, including finance, internal and external audit, risk, communications and human resources. However, there are a number of key roles involved in ensuring robust counter fraud arrangements are in place and taking forward counter fraud work, including Local Counter Fraud Specialists, Directors of Finance and Audit Committee Chairs.
For providers, the requirement to adhere to the counter fraud standards is founded on the NHS Standard Contract. This should be used by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England when commissioning NHS-funded services including acute, ambulance, care home, community-based, high secure and mental health and learning disability services. The counter fraud requirements form part of Service Condition 24 of the contract.
Commissioners should review providers' arrangements to make sure they meet the requirements under the contract. Commissioners also need to ensure that they have appropriate counter fraud arrangements in place themselves.