The former manager of a Skye GP surgery who swindled nearly £5,000 from the public purse has been slammed by NHS fraud investigators.
Roslynne O’Connor pocketed the cash while she was running Portree Medical Centre.
Over the course of six years she submitted false expense claims and embezzled cash.
The 57-year-old’s actions prompted an investigation from NHS finance chiefs – and O’Connor ended up in court over it.
She pled guilty to two counts of fraud and one charge of embezzlement, with the offences spanning more than six years.
O’Connor admitted that she:
- Claimed £1,102.98 in travel expenses from the medical centre which she’d already received from NHS body Primary Care Informatics (May 2012 – May 2017)
- Embezzled £2,682.82 from Portree Medical Centre (January 2015 – August 2018)
- Claimed £968.50 from Primary Care Informatics that she had already received or was not entitled to (May 2017 – October 2018)
Sentencing has been deferred until April to give her time to pay back the stolen cash, totalling £4,754.30.
‘Brought to justice’ at crucial time
Gordon Young, the head of NHS Counter Fraud Services, said O’Connor was caught at a time when finances are being “stretched to the limit”.
Alongside the fraudulent expenses, she used Portree Medical Centre’s business credit card for her own purposes and paid money into her own bank account.
“Roslynne O’Connor abused her trusted position by embezzling funds,” Mr Young said.
“She not only defrauded the GP practice but she let down her colleagues and the practice’s patients.
“It is quite possible that, had she not been caught, the scale of the crime would have significantly damaged the practice’s financial position.”
O’Connor was practice manager at Portree between 2011 and 2019. Recently she has been listed as holding a similar role at Glenelg, around 90 minutes away.
A spokeswoman for NHS Highland told us “all relevant and appropriate policies and procedures” are being followed.
She added it would be “inappropriate to make any further comment on individual college employment matters.”