Nurse made £10,000 of fake claims
ANURSING manager fraudulently claimed more than £10,000 in travel expenses and weekend and bank holiday overtime from the NHS by submitting 72 false claims.
Jacqueline Shacklady, who worked in nursing for 30 years, claimed travel expenses for a palliative care conference she never attended and overtime while she was actually at a horse show.
Sentencing her at Cardiff Crown Court , Judge Eleri Rees said: “You were in a position of considerable trust.”
Clare Wilks, prosecuting, said the fraudulent activity occurred between March 2015 and April 2016.
The court heard the defendant started working for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in 2010.
Prosecutors said she was a senior nursing sister, based in Caldicot, responsible for managing a team of district nurses.
Ms Wilks said the defendant was responsible for their rota and signing off their time sheets.
The court heard she was supposed to get her own time sheets signed off but her line manager “trusted her implicitly” and signed blank sheets for her in advance.
Ms Wilks said: “[The line manager] was unaware of the extent of the defendant claiming for overtime.”
Shacklady was contracted to work 37 and a half hours a week over four days, with Wednesday as her day off.
The court heard she applied to work from home following maternity leave but her application was turned down and she was told she must work from the district nursing office.
Prosecutors said the offending came to light following a conversation with colleagues in April 2016.
Ms Wilks said one of her colleagues complained about having to pay a £250 insurance excess for a smashed windscreen as she was struggling to afford it. She added: “The defendant suggested she should put a couple of extra Sundays on her time sheet saying that would cover it.”
The colleague reported her concerns to a senior member of staff and Shacklady was suspended.
There was an internal investigation by the fraud team and it was found she had been claiming overtime for shifts she had not worked.
Prosecutors said there were 29 false overtime claims where “she was not working at all”.
The court heard she claimed for full shifts - for which she would have been paid about £235 - while sending out of office emails. On January 20, 2016, she claimed for working seven and a half hours but sent an out of office saying she was in Cornwall. Prosecutors said on March 1 that year she claimed for another full shift but sent an email saying she was on annual leave in Portugal. The court heard she also made 43 claims for enhanced pay for weekend and bank holiday shifts she had not really worked.
On October 10, 2015, she claimed for three and a half hours of work but she was actually at a horse show at the NEC in Birmingham for a friend’s birthday.
Prosecutors said on another occasion she claimed for nine and a half hours but her calendar said: “Sunday lunch at mum’s”.
Ms Wilks said she submitted a fake claim for travel expenses of £16.80 on June 29 the same year, stating she had driven 120 miles to attend a palliative care conference in Swansea .
She added: “She was working in the office as usual.”
The court heard two other members of staff attended the conference and confirmed Shacklady was not there.
Ms Wilks said there were 72 fraudulent claims in total causing a loss of £10,402.92 to the health board.
The defendant was interviewed last year and told investigators her line manager was aware she would regularly work from home using her Blackberry. Prosecutors said she did not have the technical equipment required to work from home as she would have needed a laptop and key fob.
Shacklady was dismissed from the health board for gross misconduct on May 10 last year.
Prosecutors argued aggravating features included the fact she was in a position of responsibility involving “a huge amount of trust”. Ms Wilks suggested it was sophisticated offending as the defendant was “savvy” and “knowledgeable” about recording hours.
Shacklady, 51, from Greenfield in Caerleon, admitted two counts of fraud. She was given a 12-month jail term suspended for 12 months.
She was ordered to comply with a 20-week curfew and ordered to complete 15 days of a rehabilitation activity. She must pay £2,560.42 towards prosecution costs.