Dentist jailed for NHS fraud
A dentist who cheated the NHS out of over £222,000 has been jailed for three years.
Mark Walewski, 68, from Surrey, submitted claims for treatments that patients had already paid for privately or that he never carried out.
Walewski spent six years cheating the NHS after a new system of payments was introduced, Guildford Crown Court heard.
Judge Stephen Climie sentenced him to three years in prison for two counts of evasion of a liability by deception and two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Walewski “double-claimed” for treatments he had carried out on patients but had already been paid for as private dental work, either by patients or their medical insurance, including one that an insurer had paid £3,000 for, the court heard.
He also submitted claims for treatments he never carried out, including check-ups on babies and fillings on young children, leaving their dental records incorrect.
Between April 2006 and August 2012, he claimed for 6608 “units of dental activity” which totalled just over £432,000, resulting in a loss to the NHS of £222,703.34.
Walewski initially denied any wrongdoing and suggested that a dental nurse could have made the claims by mistake and another member of staff was arrested and interviewed, though he later pleaded guilty
Walewski pleaded guilty to four counts and was sentenced to three years in prison for one count of fraud and 20 months for another, both between April 4 2007 and August 10 2012.
The judge sentenced him to two years for one count of evasion of a liability and 16 months for another of the same count both covering the period April 1 2006 and March 31 2007, all to be served concurrently.
Liz Wood from NHS Protect, the health service’s anti-fraud team, led the investigation and said that Walewski compromised his patient’s care which could result in mistakes where dental records are used to identify people.
