Recommendation 29

NHS England can make payments to medical practitioners who have been suspended, in accordance with the relevant statutory regulations and conditions. The C&AG qualified his opinion on NHS England’s accounts for the second time, as a result of it making ineligible suspension payments to medical practitioners. NHS England made payments to 12 medical practitioners who did not meet the eligibility conditions, worth £1.3 million between 2017–18 and 2022–23. NHS England has not recovered most of the payments it made. Only two of the 12 overpayments had been recovered in full by NHS England by the time the 2022–23 audit was finalised, amounting to £32,747, meaning the remaining £1,302,879 had not been recovered. The C&AG reported that NHS England had failed to establish a system of controls to ensure suspension payments were only made to medical practitioners who met the qualifying criteria and to ensure that these suspension payments were stopped promptly once the qualifying period ended.53