Page 66 - Pharmacy Appeals 1/4/04 to 31/3/05

42 Performance analysis

Exaggerated and false claims W, who was a security guard at an NHS trust, alleged
he had slipped on cardboard left in a changing area
We assess all claims on their merits and readily pay
at the hospital. The claim appeared genuine and was
those where liability is established. Occasionally,
settled for just over £5,000. However, shortly afterwards,
we come across cases where there has been
evidence came to light from W's ex-partner in the form
serious exaggeration of symptoms or an attempt to
of text messages which appeared to show that the
manufacture a claim, and we adopt a very firm line
accident had been staged. Fortunately, W's solicitors had
with these in order to preserve scarce NHS funds
not passed on the settlement to him and returned the
and discourage similar attempts. Two such instances
money. We made an application to the Court, jointly
resulted in custodial outcomes during the year.
with the trust, to seek a finding of contempt. Shortly
In the case of D, the claimant had a genuine clinical before the hearing in November 2021, W accepted he
negligence claim for failure to prevent the development of had been in contempt. Judge Anne Whyte QC found
cauda equina syndrome. This was worth around £60,000. that W's representations had been both frequent and
However, he asserted that he was much more seriously dishonest. The relative financial modesty of the claim
disabled than he actually was and submitted a claim did not remove the seriousness of the contempt. W
for circa £2 million, attested by a statement of truth. had misled a public body and wasted NHS funds. She
He maintained he could walk only 100 yards, using two therefore sentenced W to a prison term of seven months.
sticks. Surveillance demonstrated that D could in fact walk
Comment
without any aids, and both lift and move boxes without
apparent discomfort. We sought the Court's permission to While the prison sentences received were relatively
commence committal proceedings against D for contempt similar, the financial sums differed greatly between these
of court. After a number of attempts at evasion, including cases. However, in criminal sentencing, specific discounts
feigning illness, D eventually accepted that he had been are applied for different types of mitigation such as
in contempt by making false statements for pecuniary admissions and remorse, and therefore the sentences are
gain. In July 2021 Judge Lickley QC sentenced D to 29 not directly comparable. The overall message from these
weeks in prison for contempt of court, observing: cases is nevertheless very clear - NHS Resolution will not
hesitate to seek the imposition of a prison sentence if
"people who try to cheat their way to compensation
individuals bring greatly exaggerated or fabricated claims.
should be punished byway of custodial sentence",
and D's actions "were so serious that only an
immediate custodial sentence was appropriate".