A former GP practice manager has avoided prison after she admitted giving herself a pay rise and overtime payments without permission.

Hazel Donaldson had worked at The Manor Practice in Southwick for 33 years but in 2012 a new system to register overtime payments was brought in.

The 59-year-old believed she was entitled to the money because she worked long hours and often covered colleagues’ holiday time.

But despite being in control of overtime payment requests from other staff, she didn’t fill in any paperwork for her own claims between May 2012 and November 2014.

She had also given herself a three per cent pay rise on her £57,000 salary, when staff salaries were meant to be capped at one per cent.

Doctors at the practice were worried about the high staff costs and quizzed Donaldson about them. The NHS Counter Fraud Authority found she had pilfered as much as £30,000 for herself, which included more than £22,000 for overtime and £7,800 in pay.

At Hove Crown Court, Jeffrey Lamb, prosecuting, said Donaldson was unable to provide records when quizzed by doctors about how overtime payments were out of kilter.

He said: “She was told on numerous occasions that all overtime had to be authorised by other doctors, and she had the sole and exclusive access to the computer.

“She had put in overtime for herself in the payroll system.

“At interview she said she should have filled in the forms in hindsight, but said she did not intend to make fraudulent claims and was only

taking what she thought she was owed.”

Paul Walker, defending, said that ordinarily a defendant could face a prison spell for such crimes.

But he said former doctors, colleagues, friends and family wrote character references to testify about how hard working Donaldson was, and the devastating impact the case has had on her life.

He said: “It is the tragedy of this case for someone with this generous salary to throw it away in this way.”