FRAUDSTERS are draining cash from Calderdale hospitals but bosses don't know the full scale of the problem.

Forged prescriptions people from abroad claiming free care – so-called health tourists – helped push the cost of deception to more than £76 million in the UK last year.

Calderdale and Hudd-ersfield Primary Care Trust's counter fraud specialist, Amanda Little-wood, admitted money was being lost locally but the extent of the corruption was hard to fathom.

She said: "The scale is difficult to pinpoint because unless it is reported to us, we just don't know about it."

Since last August Mrs Littlewood has investigated 10 cases.

"Health tourists" have travelled from outside the EU seeking free treatment at Calderdale Royal Hospital to which they are not entitled. Other con artists have impersonated family and friends to gain free treatment or prescription drugs. Claims for free eye tests, dental care and interpreters have also been uncovered.

In one case a fraudster faked prescriptions to obtain drugs, which could have been sold on the black market.

"Money that is taken off the NHS fraudulently will have an impact on services...

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