Procurement fraud guidance

A series of fraud prevention quick guides and guidance focusing on specific areas of fraud risk vulnerability in NHS finance and procurement.

The purpose of the guides is to reduce the NHS’s vulnerability to procurement fraud by helping organisations to embed control measures and implement preventative action.

Contract splitting (Disaggregate spend)

This quick guide has been developed to provide an understanding on contract splitting (also known as artificial disaggregation of spend) and how this practice increases the risk of fraud occurring in procurement processes by weakening control measures.

The document covers actions on how to control the practice and prevent fraud from occurring.


Contract reviews

This quick guide has been developed to provide an understanding on the importance of conducting contract reviews to highlight fraud risk vulnerabilities in NHS contracts and actions to be taken to prevent and detect fraud.

The document includes actions to improve the governance and scrutiny of existing contracts.


Buying goods and services

This quick guide has been developed to provide an understanding of the fraud risks when buying goods and services directly from suppliers; particularly maverick spending where goods, services, or works are purchased outside of the purchase-to-pay (P2P) system or without using a purchase order number, and outside of a contract, framework, or from non-preferred suppliers.


Due diligence

This quick guide has been developed to highlight NHS organisations' roles and responsibilities with regard to preventing fraud, bribery and corruption in the procurement of good and services supply chain.

The document promotes good practice in this area and covers the types of due diligence NHS organisations should be undertaking in their supplier arrangements.


Suppliers' code of practice: preventing fraud, bribery and corruption

This code of practice has been created for the purpose of ensuring that NHS organisations and suppliers have regard for their role and responsibility for preventing fraud, bribery and corruption in the supply chain.

This guidance is intended for NHS procurement teams, who should share the document with the suppliers they work with. It is intended to complement existing guidance and codes of practice and provides direction to suppliers on what is expected from them when engaging with the NHS.


Mandate fraud

This quick guide has been developed to provide an understanding of mandate fraud, which is also known as a change of bank account scams, payment diversion fraud or supplier account takeover fraud.

This document covers actions staff should undertake to prevent and detect NHS mandate fraud and the control measures that should be in place to reduce the risk.


Petty cash

This quick guide has been developed to provide an understanding on the importance of being vigilant to fraudulent activity and loss relating to the management and control of petty cash.

The document highlights the vulnerabilities staff should be aware of and the control measures that should be in place to reduce the risk of fraud and theft.


Purchase card

This quick guide has been developed to highlight the common fraud risks relating to the use of credit cards (sometimes referred to as purchasing cards) by NHS organisations.

This document covers actions staff should undertake to prevent and detect NHS credit card fraud and the control measures that should be in place to reduce the risk.


Pre-contract procurement fraud and corruption: Guidance for prevention and detection

This document has been produced by the NHSCFA to provide Local Counter Fraud Specialists, procurement staff and finance staff working in the NHS with guidance to support work on the prevention and detection of procurement fraud and corruption at a local level.

The focus of the document is on pre-contract fraud and corruption. It reflects our current understanding of the key threats facing the NHS in these areas.

This document is intended to supplement existing polices, directives and guidance available more widely in the NHS by providing an overview of the pre-contract procurement process from a counter fraud perspective.

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