Worker faked sick lines and sneaked in to steal from ERI

A HOSPITAL worker faked sick lines then sneaked into his work to steal laptops while he was meant to be ill in bed.

Stephen Dowie, 31, was employed at the information services department of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

But after taking time off for a virus, he forged and altered medical certificates to claim an extra £2786 of sick pay.

And when he was supposed to be off sick, he used a security swipe card to steal laptops and cash from offices in the hospital.

Health chiefs take a vigilant approach to thefts from their premises as the financial loss impacts on services designed to save lives. They also work hard to keep unnecessary sick leave to a minimum, and have a lower than average record.

Yesterday, Dowie appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty by letter and was told his wife will have to get a loan to pay the hospital back.

The court heard how Dowie had taken a week off after suffering from a virus but began photocopying and altering medical certificates to give himself more time off.

Over the course of five months, between June and November last year, he conned almost £3000 in sick pay and also admitted using a security card to steal computers and cash from his work.

Fiscal depute Bruce McCrossan said police noticed several high-value thefts from the hospital between October 2006 and April 2007.

It was during these investigations when Dowie, from Broomhill Park, Dalkeith first went off sick.

Maggie Worsfold, of Counter Fraud Services, which investigates fraud against the NHS, said: "We were contacted after a lap top was stolen in April 2007 and then started investigations after a second one went missing.

"Covert surveillance operations identified who the perpetrator was. We contacted the police who went into his home and recovered some of the property."

Investigators realised Dowie must have taken two laptop computers because they were taken from a corridor for which security cards, issued to only a small number of staff, were needed.

The father-of-two was suspended and eventually sacked from his job at the hospital in Little France.

His defence agent, Euan Roy, said Dowie forged the sick lines because he was suffering from stress after being bullied at work and seeing his father fall mentally ill.

He said Dowie stole the laptops because he had a drug addiction.

Mr Roy added: "Had he told his doctor about the difficulties he had I'm sure he would have been given the necessary documents."

He said first offender Dowie was shocked by his own actions, was now drug-free, looking for work and was a low risk of re-offending.

Sheriff Warner described the incident as a "flagrant breach of trust". He added: "It seems prison is inescapable."

But Mr Roy said Dowie's wife, a £20,000-a-year biomedical scientist, would arrange a personal loan to cover the health board's loss and his sentence was deferred to allow it to be arranged.

Alan Boyter, director of human resources at NHS Lothian, said: "NHS Lothian has robust systems in place for preventing and detecting fraud. Mr Dowie has been dismissed."