GP practice manager stole £50k from surgery to ‘fund gambling habits’

A GP practice manager who stole nearly £50,000 from the surgery she worked at has been given a two-year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay back £25,000.

Kimberley Wilson, 52, of Tabernacle Street, Skewen, admitted to stealing £49,213.08 for her own personal gain from Castle Surgery in Neath, where she was employed between April 2019 and March 2023, until her dismissal for gross misconduct.

The case was brought by NHS Counter Fraud Service (CFS) Wales, who investigated Wilson after suspicions were raised by the practice’s accountants.

It was discovered that Wilson was using the practice’s business bank account to buy goods for herself and transferring money into her personal account, under the references ‘petty cash’ or ‘advance’.

An NHS CFS Wales financial investigator obtained a production order which gave access to Wilson’s bank accounts and proved the accountants’ findings.

Wilson was later found to have spent most of the money ‘on her day-to-day expenses’ and ‘to fund her gambling habits’, NHS CFS Wales said.

On 7 August Wilson was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work. She had previously pleaded guilty to Fraud by Abuse of Position at Swansea Magistrates’ Court in May.

At a compensation hearing at Swansea Crown Court on 12 September, she was ordered to pay back £5,000, at £200 a month for the next two years, to Castle Surgery, Neath. This is in addition to the £20,000 that she repaid on 21 July 2025.

NHS CFS Wales counter fraud specialist Emily Thompson said: ‘Wilson abused her position of trust to steal money that was meant for NHS patient care.

‘Her actions were motivated by greed and represent a serious breach of the trust placed in her by her employers and colleagues.

‘This sentencing outcome sends a clear message that diverting funds from the NHS is unacceptable and will result in serious consequences, including a criminal record.’