Forensic audit on travel nurse company expenses soon flagged in critical report
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services hopes that a recent bombing report by the Auditor General has made a comprehensive review on the payment made to the Travel Nursing Agency quoted.
“The contract will be provided by the end of this week, with NLHS CEO Pat Perfrey on Tuesday afternoon, that the forensic audit will be completed by the end of September.”
In a scary report released before this summer, Auditor General Dennis Hanrahan especially highlighted a series of payment made to a nursing company, in particular, dub agency A.
Hanarhan called for an immediate comprehensive audit of all the currently present zodiac signs from April 2022 to recover the public funds paid in the error “. The province no longer has a contract with the company.
The AG report states that the company was “often reimbursed for non-replenished expenses”. “Overall, an invoice we had investigated for the agency’s 61 percent expenditure, incapacious items were included.”
Auditor General found “strong indications of potential billing fraud by agency A for electric vehicle rental.
According to the AG, the company presented the challan and was paid for EV fare worth $ 546,657; However, 60 percent of the amount of that amount went on rent for nurses “that did not appear near the vehicle, or where the use by a nurse could not be verified.”
Senior NLHS officers appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of the Legislature – which acts as a guards at government expense – for questioning more than three hours on Tuesday.
Scott Bishop, vice -president and chief financial officer of NLHS Corporate Services, said the external audit would pay attention to whether there was any fake activity, and whether the agency A has been further interacted to be further interacted with A.
Progressive Orthodox MHA Jodi Wall cited the auditor general’s comments about potential billing fraud, and asked Parafre if “due to the AG report, any communication has been done with sending law enforcement in relation to an investigation.”
Parfrey replied: “This is accidental on the report from the forensic audit. And depending on the one who displays, we will take a decision on proceeding with law enforcement. If there is a sign of fraud, or potential fraud, we will do so.”
Auditor General’s report made 15 recommendations. NLHS says that 12 of them have been fully implemented so far. The remaining three – including pending audit – are in functions.
‘We are solutions to the problem’
At Tuesday’s hearing, the top NLHS officials repeatedly demanded the current Provincial Health Authority to distance the “heritage” regional agencies, which had taken place earlier.
“We are solutions to the problem created by the contracts, not the cause of problems with the contracts,” the performed said.
He said that the agency’s contract was implemented as a result of the “great resignation” of nurses in 2022.
Parafre told the committee, “They were in emergency conditions due to closure of hospital dangers, especially Gandor, Grand Falls and Stephanville.”
But the current authorities described a “systemic failure” in those heritage organizations to be able to administer those contracts.
Officials insisted that checks and balance are now much stronger than the past.
And Parfrey said that the agency spending on nurses is now trending downwards.
“I think the agency nurses helped us survive, and now we are getting out of that situation and we are guessing that we will soon be out of that situation,” he said.
