International Fraud Awareness Week (IFAW) is becoming a mainstay of the counter fraud calendar in the NHS, as a growing number of organisations have supported this global initiative in recent years.
For this year’s edition of IFAW, taking place from 14-20 November 2021, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) has developed a campaign which highlights the role of NHS fraud fighters and how they work together to spot, report and stop fraud against the NHS.
To support NHS health bodies and counter fraud providers in taking part in IFAW and complement their own fraud awareness initiatives, we have developed a suite of campaign materials, including banners, animations and sample content for local communications.
The materials have been designed with input from the NHS counter fraud community and we’ve shared them on Ngage, the community’s digital collaboration platform, starting from last week.
Enter the superheroes
Who are NHS fraud fighters? If you followed some of our previous campaigns, you will already know the answer: all of us, as everyone has a part to play in fighting fraud against the NHS.
This year we want to build on that theme by highlighting the professional fraud fighters who form the NHS counter fraud community – particularly Local Counter Fraud Specialists, who deliver a wide range of specialist counter fraud work, and Fraud Champions, who support the counter fraud agenda at a strategic level within NHS organisations.
To turn the spotlight on these ‘fraud fighters with superpowers’, we are using a superhero theme, which we’ll develop further as we approach IFAW in November.
However, we are not losing sight of our core message that the fight against fraud requires everyone working together – including colleagues in the wider counter fraud and law enforcement community, NHS people, patients and the public. That’s why we’d urge you, whether or not you are a professional fraud fighter, to share the counter fraud message within your networks. You can start by following the NHSCFA on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and sharing our posts, there will be more coming there about IFAW in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or feedback about IFAW or our campaign materials, please drop us a line at comms@nhscfa.gov.uk.