NHS Fine - prescription charge claim?
Discussion
Hi, some advice please if anyone has experienced this before?
My wife got a letter last week demanding that she pay £54 because she fraudulently/falsely claimed a prescription for free when she isn't entitled to do so. I've never heard of this being the case, and under what right do they have to demand this? £54 is made up of the original £9 prescription charge and a £45 fine.
The details are of course, that it is in fact an error on my part, and I believe also with the pharmacist.
my wife DID have exemption due to maternity, but I didn't know this expired after 1 year. I'd seen the little card she had, and been with her in the past when she used it, and all was fine.
Back in early April when she was unwell I went to collect a prescription for her from a pharmacy within a supermarket and when asked if it was to be paid for,I said "I don't think so, but I haven't got the card with me"- and that was it. I wasn't asked to prove it, or show the card or questioned any further. So that was it, I thought I was right, but I wasn't, but is there no duty of care for the pharmacist to check any further on this? If I had ever studied the card, or shown it to them, the expiry date would have seen me hand over £9 to them at the time and been on my way.
What gets me more uneasy, is that according to the words on the letter about appealing this charge are words to the effect "We generally don't consider appeals where you've been incorrectly advised by the pharmacist" - Surely that's a big issue, absolving them of any responsibility at all?
Finally - why has it taken from early April until mid-July to even contact us about this, that's over 3 months ago now.
My wife got a letter last week demanding that she pay £54 because she fraudulently/falsely claimed a prescription for free when she isn't entitled to do so. I've never heard of this being the case, and under what right do they have to demand this? £54 is made up of the original £9 prescription charge and a £45 fine.
The details are of course, that it is in fact an error on my part, and I believe also with the pharmacist.
my wife DID have exemption due to maternity, but I didn't know this expired after 1 year. I'd seen the little card she had, and been with her in the past when she used it, and all was fine.
Back in early April when she was unwell I went to collect a prescription for her from a pharmacy within a supermarket and when asked if it was to be paid for,I said "I don't think so, but I haven't got the card with me"- and that was it. I wasn't asked to prove it, or show the card or questioned any further. So that was it, I thought I was right, but I wasn't, but is there no duty of care for the pharmacist to check any further on this? If I had ever studied the card, or shown it to them, the expiry date would have seen me hand over £9 to them at the time and been on my way.
What gets me more uneasy, is that according to the words on the letter about appealing this charge are words to the effect "We generally don't consider appeals where you've been incorrectly advised by the pharmacist" - Surely that's a big issue, absolving them of any responsibility at all?
Finally - why has it taken from early April until mid-July to even contact us about this, that's over 3 months ago now.
Firstly 3 months for something like this is not really that long.
Regarding the fine you where in the wrong so why shouldn't the NHS try to reclaim some of their costs? (To be honest by the time this is done it is likely to have cost the NHS more than £45)
See link below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45850140
Regarding the fine you where in the wrong so why shouldn't the NHS try to reclaim some of their costs? (To be honest by the time this is done it is likely to have cost the NHS more than £45)
See link below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45850140
It will state quite clearly on the prescription that it's your responsibility, not the pharmacist. It would seem that they've got you bang to rights. The "penalty charge" element is apparently 5 times the original amount, I guess this is to try and put people off making false claims.
Ultimately it was your responsibility, intentional or not, you filed a false claim and now need to pay as a result.
Ultimately it was your responsibility, intentional or not, you filed a false claim and now need to pay as a result.
It was your responsibility to ensure the exemption was correct not the pharmacist's. I'm a dentist and we get this every so often. We don't issue the fines, the NHSBSA does and we have been advised time and time again that the responsibility falls with the patient not the practice. It was an honest mistake but it was your mistake. Trust me we hate this fining system as much as you do as we get paid whether we charge you or not. If in doubt, always pay and claim it back later.
The onus is on whoever the prescription is for to make a correct declaration - that's all covered on the back of it. It's not even possible for pharmacies to check eligibility for free prescriptions. That said, the NHS have form for wrongly chasing people.... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-frau...
I had a pre-paid card and ordered a repeat prescription Thursday online - 3 days before it expired (Sunday) . Wife collected Monday and pharmacist just ticked the box, as she always did because she "knew" I had a prepaid card.... no discussion with wife whatsoever.
£54 fine and appeal failed because it was "signed" after card had expired (albeit by the pharmacist!)...........real irony was if she had waited 3 more days I would have got it free anyway because of my age. rules is rules
£54 fine and appeal failed because it was "signed" after card had expired (albeit by the pharmacist!)...........real irony was if she had waited 3 more days I would have got it free anyway because of my age. rules is rules
Sadly you have failed to check your wife's entitlement and therefore, pharmacist are not there to police the system, if you sign the slip and say 'exempt' then you also accept a fine if it turns out you were wrong that is the wording and there are signs stating if you claim free and you not you get fined. I am not sure if you don't pay it now whether it can be taken to court but I would cough up and learn a lesson.
berlintaxi said:
Helicopter123 said:
I thought that all prescriptions were free these days?
Only if you live in Wales,Scotland or Northern Ireland.It's not like your £9 or whatever it is, comes close to paying for the medication.
techguyone said:
berlintaxi said:
Helicopter123 said:
I thought that all prescriptions were free these days?
Only if you live in Wales,Scotland or Northern Ireland.Just make sure the fine is justified. Lots of them aren't.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48252897
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48252897
Shakermaker said:
Fair enough, thanks for taking the time to reply all.
This was easier than going to the local papers with my best compo face and a link to my GoFundMe page
bThis was easier than going to the local papers with my best compo face and a link to my GoFundMe page
ks! Come back! The PH jury haven't finished with you yet! 
But no, OP, as you've found out, it's not up to the pharmacist I'm afraid.
I do think it should be the case that anyone getting a free prescription should have to prove their eligibility beforehand but, for whatever reason, it's not the case.
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