Former trust chief guilty of fraud avoids jail

Paula Vasco-Knight was chief executive of South Devon Foundation Trust and the national lead for equalities and diversity for NHS England at the time.

She was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court today.

Her husband Stephen had also pleaded guilty to fraud and was given a 10 month suspended sentence. Both jail terms are suspended for two years.

Ms Vasco-Knight was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and her husband to carry out 150 hours. They will face Proceeds of Crime Act hearings at a later date.

In December 2012, Ms Vasco-Knight was awarded a £10,000 bursary for leadership development. In November 2013, she submitted an invoice to the NHS for £11,072, from the bursary funds, to produce a leadership improvement document called Transform.

Ms Vasco-Knight then authorised the trust to pay her husband’s company Thinking Caps for the document, which was never produced.

She was legally bound to declare her interest in her husband’s company as part of the NHS’s standing financial instructions, but failed to do so.

The couple had initially pleaded not guilty to charges, but changed their pleas after the trial began in January. Sentencing was adjourned until today.

Passing sentence, the judge told Ms Vasco-Knight: “One cannot imagine a more serious abuse of trust and responsibility than your part.

“You were on a six figure salary and you arranged for your husband to benefit from a contract of £11,000, money from an NHS budget we all know is under severe pressure for resources.

“[You] have fallen a long way from what was expected of you professionally and personally and that is your own fault.”

Lloyd Morgan, defending Ms Vasco-Knight, said: “She has risen a long way from humble beginnings, overcome many difficulties, both professionally and personally, to reach dizzying heights – more than she would ever have expected – and this is a fall of very great magnitude.

“She fraudulently and dishonestly went ahead and arranged the payment of this invoice and it is something she bitterly regrets and will regret for the rest of her life.”

Mr Morgan said Ms Vasco-Knight, who was currently unemployed and signed off sick with mental health problems, had lost her career.

He added: “It is her own fault. It has all gone up in smoke and something to which she will never be able to return. It is difficult to imagine a more dramatic fall from grace than this.”

Ms Vasco-Knight was appointed chief executive of South Devon Healthcare FT in 2008 and was also national equalities lead for NHS England. She resigned from the trust May 2014, after being accused of nepotism and when the trust was found to have victimised two whistleblowers..

In May 2016, she was suspended, after just two weeks, from her position as acting chief executive of St George’s Healthcare Trust.