Course will teach how to catch NHS frauds

* Fraud and corruption in the National Health Service is to be tackled by training 500 staff to detect, take action against and deter the illegal misappropriation of taxpayers' money intended for patient care.

Foundation and advanced level courses will be taught at a new Department of Health counter-fraud centre of excellence at Reading and will be accredited at BSc and MSc degree levels by the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth. Audit Commission figures for 1997-98 recorded detected fraud at Pounds 2.2 million.