HEALTH investigators have warned that they will clamp down on NHS fraudsters.

The Dorset and Somerset Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (DAS) issued the caution after a woman was jailed for giving false names to obtain multiple prescriptions.

Pauline Sharon Stephenson, 53, admitted giving false names to three surgeries in the Weymouth and Portland area in order to feed her addiction to codeine-based painkillers, which saw her taking up to 150 tablets a day.

Stephenson, of Withies Road, Gosport, Hampshire, was jailed for a year and 28 days.

Mandy Hobbs, local counter fraud specialist from NHS Dorset, said: “Catching up with this persistent offender so quickly has saved the NHS money and resources – not just in terms of the prescriptions themselves but in terms of lost appointments for genuine patients.

“Along with the financial implications of crime such as this, people who are acting fraudulently can delay those with genuine need getting the treatment they require.

“We hope this conviction serves as a message to anyone who misuses NHS resources.

“We take this very seriously and will seek prosecutions where appropriate.” Stephenson appeared at Dorchester Crown Court to be sentenced for three charges of fraud by representation as well as 17 other similar offences which took place across Hampshire and Dorset, which she asked to be taken into consideration.

Stephenson was also sentenced for a further two fraud charges and a shoplifting offence that had been committed from the magistrates court.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clark said told the defendant she presented a ‘sad spectacle’ as he handed her a 12-month prison sentence for the offences.

He also activated a 28-day suspended prison sentence from February this year for an offence of shoplifting, with the term to be served consecutive to the one-year sentence.