WORKFORCE: A “patients champion” and former chair of Bury’s local involvement network has been charged with committing £60,000 of VAT fraud, in the course of half a decade of paid consultancy work for the NHS.

Paul Mainwaring, 53, of Turton Road, Bury, was charged this week with nine counts of fraud by false representation, three of obtaining a money transfer by deception, and one of theft, according to a statement from Greater Manchester Police.

“Between September 2006 and August 2011, more than £60,000 was stolen when a false VAT number was used to take payment for work done for a number of NHS trusts,” the statement adds. “The charges also relate to housing and council tax benefit fraud.”

Mr Mainwaring worked for a number of years as a consultant to the Healthy Futures team, hosted by NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, which is responsible for the delivery of an ongoing reconfiguration of acute services in North East Manchester. He provided the team with advice on patient engagement, consultation and communications.

HSJ understands that Mr Mainwaring has worked as a consultant to a number of NHS organisations, not all of them in the Manchester area.

John Boyington, managing director of the North East sector of NHS Greater Manchester, said the NHS in his sector was “very disappointed that charges have had to have been brought against someone who had been both a colleague working on our Healthy Futures project and a local patients’ champion as chair of Bury Link”.

He added: “We have fully cooperated with Greater Manchester Police in their investigation of these matters as it is essential that any fraud is dealt with by due process.  We will reserve any further comment until legal proceedings have concluded.”

Mr Mainwaring is due to appear at Bury Magistrates’ Court on 25 November 2011. Bury LINk declined to comment when contacted by HSJ today.

Source

Police statement/NE Manchester statement

Source date

15 November 2011

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