.svg)
The professional credibility of senior HR circles lies in tatters following the sentencing of Leanne Underhill, an executive who stooped to the ultimate deception by faking her own mother’s death to facilitate a fraudulent "moonlighting" scheme. While Underhill sat in Poole Magistrates' Court sobbing over the "detriment" to her career, the reality of her actions paints a picture of a calculated betrayal of public trust. At a time when the NHS is buckling under unprecedented financial strain, Underhill was pocketing a £80,000 salary at University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) while simultaneously charging Birmingham City Council a staggering £550 per day for a role 170 miles away.
A Calculated Deception Unmasked
This was no mere lapse in judgment; it was a layered sequence of lies that began in April 2024. After securing a fixed-term contract at UHD, Underhill claimed her mother had passed away on May 1, even going as far as to provide a specific date for a fictional funeral. This heartless fabrication was the smokescreen she needed to claim paid compassionate leave while secretly embedding herself in a new full-time role in Birmingham. The house of cards collapsed only when an external recruitment firm, Morgan Law, inadvertently tipped off the NHS by requesting a reference for the very job she had already started.
The Cost of Betrayal and the Road Ahead
The financial implications are as stark as the moral ones. Beyond the £2,258 in dishonestly accrued wages, Underhill’s web of lies forced the NHS to divert £4,940 of taxpayer money into a fraud investigation—funds originally intended for frontline patient care. While Underhill attempted to pivot her defense toward struggles with substance abuse and mental health during her November 2024 interview, the court noted the severe breach of trust inherent in her senior position. Deputy Judge Roderick Hine has now ordered her to pay the remaining £6,948 in compensation, a debt that follows her as she transitions from a high-flying executive to a convicted fraudster.
Industry Fallout and Future Oversight
The fallout from this case is expected to trigger a rigorous review of how NHS trusts and local councils vet interim executives. Pete Papworth, Chief Finance Officer at UHD, confirmed that the recovery of these funds is a victory for patient services, but the reputational damage to the sector remains. For Underhill, the "hard lesson" she claims to have learned comes at the cost of her professional future, as she now carries a criminal record that effectively bars her from the very HR industry she once managed. The focus now shifts to whether the NHS will implement more robust, real-time cross-referencing for interim contractors to ensure such a brazen "double-dipping" scam can never happen again.
