Runcorn nurse defrauded Warrington and Whiston hospitals of £30,000

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Runcorn nurse Sarah Oakes falsified sick notes while working at Whiston Hospital and spent some of this time visiting Cuba.

The 44-year-old also gave a false reference to gain a job at Warrington Hospital, allowing her to earn wages she would not be entitled to had the truth been known.

The mum-of four, including two under the age of five, was sentenced yesterday, Thursday, after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation at an earlier hearing.

But she was allowed to walk free with a suspended sentence after the court heard of the ‘calamitous’ impact her incarceration would have on her children.

Presenting the facts of the case, Sarah Holt, prosecuting, explained how the first fraud offence occurred between February 17, 2019, and August 28 of the same year.

During this period, while working at Whiston Hospital, she told her employer, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, that she was too sick to work.

The court heard how Oakes initially started working at Whiston Hospital in October 2015, before resigning on August 28, 2019, after months of sick leave from February.

She had been submitting sick notes issued by a Dr Blake complaining of ‘chronic hip pain’ and claiming that surgery was required to her foot.

Oakes defrauded Whiston Hospital

During this period of ‘sickness’, her manager maintained contact with her and a number of welfare appointments were arranged, but Oakes failed to attend.

The court heard while claiming to be sick, she made two trips to Cuba that were ‘documented on her Facebook page’.

All of the sick notes were fraudulent, with Dr Blake being non-existent. The court heard it is unknown how she came to be in possession of the sick notes or put them together.

The second fraud offence took place while working at Warrington Hospital between August 12, 2019, and May 6, 2021, by providing a false reference to her new employer – Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

On January 31, 2019, the defendant, while still employed at Whiston Hospital, attended a nursing open day at Warrington Hospital.

She was interviewed that same day for a staff nurse position and a conditional offer was made to employ her, pending checks on her application form, including two references.

It took a while for the application to be processed, the court heard, and one of the references was for a senior nurse at the St Helens hospital trust, with a requirement being for a reference from a current employer.

However, the email address was not the email address of the nurse listed, and the reference was not genuine.

Sarah Oakes leaving Liverpool Crown Court having been spared jail

Due to the delay, Oakes was employed on August 12, 2019, while still working employed at Whiston.

She worked a number of days before going off sick for periods, and her employment continued until May 2021, when she was dismissed.

Before then, due to claims of her suffering from fibromyalgia, she did not work long days and had no set work patterns, the court heard.

Ms Holt informed the court that Oakes is of ‘previous good character’ with no previous convictions.

She told the court that the prosecution’s position was that the scam involved ‘significant planning’, occurred over a ‘significant period of time’ and involved a sum of just under £31,000.

In mitigation, Patrick Williamson said that while the custodial threshold had been crossed, Oakes working at two trusts ‘must have been of some value’, and that there was no indication of her ‘falling short or behaving inappropriately’.

He said that professional and personal matters placed her under ‘significant pressure’ which led to her offending – including allegations that she was being bullied in a homophobic manner.

The court heard that Oakes is still employed in the health service by Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and has been since 2021.

However, her job is in jeopardy, having informed her employer about court proceedings, and she has a meeting on Tuesday, May 7.

Warrington Hospital was defrauded

The potential of intervention by the Nursing and Midwifery Council was also mentioned during the hearing, although the court was not aware of any active proceedings.

Mr Williams highlighted how, if Oakes were to lose her liberty, her Cuban husband would have to give up his job to look after them, and he would not be able to claim benefits.

He added that in her case there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and urged the court to draw back from immediate imprisonment.

Judge Anil Murray said of Oakes: “One of the problems she has made for herself is that she has told so many lies, I have to take what she says with scepticism.”

However, he concluded that he could ‘just about’ suspend the inevitable prison sentence.

Oakes, of Westwood in Runcorn, was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for two years, during which time she must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

No orders were made for her to pay compensation or the £3,840 it cost to investigate the fraud, or any Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings, with Judge Murray stating that the trusts can pursue these through the civil courts.

He added: “If I meet you again, it will mean you have breached your order, and I will be driven to send you to prison.”