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Cambridge woman under investigation after posing as fake CQC official

A Cambridge woman has been placed under investigation after she visited two GP practices as a bogus CQC official.

Cambridgeshire Police is investigating a 34-year-old woman on the grounds of theft from doctors surgery in Haddenham and shoplifting in Burwell Surgery in Burwell.  

They confirmed that the woman – who is also under investigation for fraud in a Boots pharmacy in Graftom Centre and a Lloyds pharmacy in Burwell – last month presented to the practices as a CQC official.

No further details are available at this time as the case is ongoing. 

Cambridgeshire Police said: ‘A 34-year-old woman from Cambridge was arrested on suspicion of fraud on 8 August. She has since been released under investigation.

‘The officer dealing with this investigation has been working with the General Pharmaceutical Council on this as well as the NHS Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer medicines team. The CQC are also aware.

‘Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or via our online reporting system www.cambs.police.uk/report.’

A CQC spokesperson said: ‘Genuine CQC inspectors carry ID badges that include their photograph, a copy of our warrant and the signature of our chief executive. If anyone has any concerns about the identity of an inspector, we would urge them to call our enquiries team on 03000 616161 so they can check the inspector’s name against our records while you’re on the phone.’

The practices declined to comment. 

The CQC previously warned GPs about people posing as inspectors to get information