Author: Dr Anu Watson
Date of event: 29/1/26
Location: NWFF Conference, Greater Manchester Police and Social Club
SCAN Team Conference Report
On the 29th of January Tom Sanders and Anu Watson from the SCAN team took to the stage at the North-West Fraud Forum Annual Conference held in Manchester. This was a great opportunity for the team to raise awareness of our project that focuses on strengthening the counter fraud provision across the NHS in England. The North-West Fraud forum brings together a broad range of professionals involved in the fight against fraud and the speakers on the day were reflective of this.
Some of our key takeaways from the conference included:
- Importance of evidence, data and collaboration in effective detection, investigation and prevention of fraud that featured in several presentations on the day.
- AI is here to stay and developing at pace: Excellent presentation by the NPCC lead on AI by Detective Inspector Helen Pealing, providing insights into the work that is being undertaken to both harness the potential of AI and address the challenges it brings. Highly relevant to professionals and organisations fighting fraud across sectors, including health.
- Key updates on latest developments on the Government Fraud Strategy, Government Counter Fraud Profession from presentations by Detective Supt Oliver Little from the City of London Police and joint presentation Tom Phillips (Insolvency Service) and Clare Blackburn (PSFA) respectively.
- Networking: The conference was a great opportunity for the team to connect with fraud professionals across sectors. We had conversations with conference delegates across a broad range of sectors and organisations, including the CFA and enjoyed hearing about some of the latest developments and projects, including a public health trial on NHS payroll fraud.
- Forum commitment to engaging with academic institutions, and latest research. In addition to our presentation on the SCAN project, the program also included a talk by PhD students from Manchester University on bridging the gap on practitioner and researcher perspectives (Jane Ngan and Ashleigh Gonzales-Burnside)
Thanks to the NWFF Team for an engaging and insightful Conference!
Please note: This project is funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR159714). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
