Medical Exemption Certificate.

[Secudus]

I'm coming up to 55 this coming May.

When I reached the heady age of two, I was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic and was given a Life Time 'Medical Exemption Certificate' to get all my medication's on prescription free...

I have never had to pay for any medication because of the M.E.C. and when I started to order the prescriptions for myself, I would tick the M.E. box and collect same and this has continued up to this day without problem...

Now, here's the funny part, 2 weeks ago I get a letter from the NHS Business Service, saying I had been given a Penalty Notice for a prescription in October and had declared I had a valid medical exemption certificate.
According to them, they had no evidence of this and as a consequence I had to pay the prescription charge of £32.20 plus a penalty charge of £100

I rang them to sort it out and was told there was no recourse, there was no one in authority I could discuss with and no appeal!

After I explained I was still a child when the medical exemption certificate was awarded to me and that they must have had a record of it in their database, again was told they had no evidence of one and that I must pay and apply for a 5 year one using the FP92A

She told me that my GP would have a copy of the PCE and that if I changed surgery it would have been sent on to the new GP's with my MR's

So I rang my GP's surgery and spoke with the receptionist, who after 5 minutes looking told me they didn't have it and that I should ring the Pharmacy and ask them.

I did and was told they had me down on their system as having a PCE but couldn't help me any more...

So, I collected a 'Form FP92A Application' and filled it in with a letter to my GP explaining what had happened and would he confirm that I had been a Type I Diabetic since 1962 and send it off to the NHS BS in the stamped address envelope supplied.

I also paid the £132.20 over the phone, job done, or so I thought!

Today I get another letter from the NHS BS this time for a repeat prescription in November, this time for £124.15 d'oh!!

So now I ring my GP Surgery and ask if they have sent it off, only to be told that it was to short a time for the GP to have filled in the form...

So now I have to fork out a total of £256.35 that will continue to increase if the FP92A the GP has it languishing still in his 'in tray' for much longer...

This is a deplorable situation, the main database is missing my original certificate and it seems no one else has a copy of it either, and because of this I'm to pay £256.35 for official incompetence for something I'm entitled to with no way of getting a reimbursement...

I was wondering if any one else here has had long term diabetes (30+ years ) that have had to pay for prescriptions because the NHS Business Services have said their database had no evidence of them having one, and what was the final outcome?

I am seriously thinking of passing this on to the local media to bring this out into the open, what do you think?


Stu...

 

[Fallgal]

The lunatics are running the asylum.

There is a huge thread on this very subject elsewhere on the forum, started by someone else who was also fined. Not sure where or I'd link it.

 

[Secudus]

Hi Fallgal...

Ha!

How right you are, sorry I should have looked for an old thread, perhaps one of the Mod's could close this thread and put it in the other thread?

I really have very little faith left in any of the NHS sevices over the years, there are good parts, and very dedicated professionals but they're in the minority as there are a lot more very dubious and down right dangerous people that just seem to never be picked up on...

This seems to be nothing more than a cash cow as the only way you can complain is PALS and having had to use them twice before have realised it's another department that just seem to be there in name only...

Stu...

 

[Fallgal]

Hi Stu and welcome.

I am very new to the NHS and my experience so far has been largely positive; however, I think in some areas they are fantastic and in others sorely lacking. This MEC fining system is a mess. I am trying to find the link for you.

Why don't you post in the introduction section and then @daisy1 will come along to give you the new member's info. (I hope I did that right in "calling her" to the thread??) I know you've been T1 all your life but maybe there's something in the info that would be beneficial.

 

[Fallgal]

Woo-hoo. Here it is!

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/prescription-fine.68038/

 

[Secudus]

The best thing that has been beneficial to my diabetes was going on the DAFNE Course 2 years ago now, the most annoying was the fact that I wasn't told about it until I was told about it by a Diabetic Specialist Nurse, at the hospital after having had a small ulcer for four months on my right fifth toe being treated by the Diabetic Nurse in my surgery, who had not mentioned it to me for the 4 years I'd been seeing her...

 

[catherinecherub]

I'm coming up to 55 this coming May.

When I reached the heady age of two, I was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic and was given a Life Time 'Medical Exemption Certificate' to get all my medication's on prescription free...

I have never had to pay for any medication because of the M.E.C. and when I started to order the prescriptions for myself, I would tick the M.E. box and collect same and this has continued up to this day without problem...

Now, here's the funny part, 2 weeks ago I get a letter from the NHS Business Service, saying I had been given a Penalty Notice for a prescription in October and had declared I had a valid medical exemption certificate.
According to them, they had no evidence of this and as a consequence I had to pay the prescription charge of £32.20 plus a penalty charge of £100

I rang them to sort it out and was told there was no recourse, there was no one in authority I could discuss with and no appeal!

After I explained I was still a child when the medical exemption certificate was awarded to me and that they must have had a record of it in their database, again was told they had no evidence of one and that I must pay and apply for a 5 year one using the FP92A

She told me that my GP would have a copy of the PCE and that if I changed surgery it would have been sent on to the new GP's with my MR's

So I rang my GP's surgery and spoke with the receptionist, who after 5 minutes looking told me they didn't have it and that I should ring the Pharmacy and ask them.

I did and was told they had me down on their system as having a PCE but couldn't help me any more...

So, I collected a 'Form FP92A Application' and filled it in with a letter to my GP explaining what had happened and would he confirm that I had been a Type I Diabetic since 1962 and send it off to the NHS BS in the stamped address envelope supplied.

I also paid the £132.20 over the phone, job done, or so I thought!

Today I get another letter from the NHS BS this time for a repeat prescription in November, this time for £124.15 d'oh!!

So now I ring my GP Surgery and ask if they have sent it off, only to be told that it was to short a time for the GP to have filled in the form...

So now I have to fork out a total of £256.35 that will continue to increase if the FP92A the GP has it languishing still in his 'in tray' for much longer...

This is a deplorable situation, the main database is missing my original certificate and it seems no one else has a copy of it either, and because of this I'm to pay £256.35 for official incompetence for something I'm entitled to with no way of getting a reimbursement...

I was wondering if any one else here has had long term diabetes (30+ years ) that have had to pay for prescriptions because the NHS Business Services have said their database had no evidence of them having one, and what was the final outcome?

I am seriously thinking of passing this on to the local media to bring this out into the open, what do you think?


Stu...

Hi @Secudus and welcome to the forum.

There is a long thread about prescription fines and you will see that you are not alone. You could add something there.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/prescription-fine.68038/

 

[CarbsRok]

Hi Stu, at the age of 2 you would have been exempt as all children are then at the age of 16 if working or 18 if in full time education then you have to fill in a med form for exemption.
Hopefully you can get the November money back at least as the certificate can be back dated by 1 month I think.
As CC says a very long running thread on the forum about this problem. Many have been caught out as the rules have now changed it used to be life long once applied for then it was changed to renewal every 5 years (just in case we cured) hence loads have been caught out

 

[Secudus]

Hi Catherine...

Yes I will, thank you...

 

[andy spencer]

hi I was diagnosed type 1 in 1976 age 14 I am now 52 nobody has ever told me I needed a certificate ive had a fine for 124.50 I wrote to them to appeal the fine to be told I must pay the very next day I had another letter to say I had not been in contact and they have added another 50 pound to the fine I would say I am in the same era as stu ??

 

[Secudus]

Hi Andy...

Yep, exactly the same, its a pretty poor show to be sent a letter saying there's no evidence of my having had one, and which, due to incompetence and inefficiency on the NHS's BSA part, which after half a century later they decide its really all my fault for not asking for a certificate that was never asked for by any Pharmacist in the past 52 years of collecting prescriptions for my condition of Type I Diabetes, which according to the NHS BSA web site make's me exempt from paying for said prescriptions, a funny old world, isn't it!

 

[Secudus]

Thinking about this, surely the GP signing my prescriptions is at fault as much as I supposedly am, if I'm given to believe that ignorance of the law is no excuse, so would it not be prudent for the BSA to give the GP practice a penalty charge as they've compounded the problem by issuing a fraudulent prescription that has medication pertaining to a patient with Type I Diabetes without checking said patient has a valid MEC...

 

[Geminigirl]

Hi, that's funny, I received one of these letters yesterday threatening they had no record of my exemption certificate and that I had filled two prescriptions in November, each with two items on and that I now I owed them over £160 with additional charges which were added as fines! The tone was horrid and could panic people. I was incensed!
I called them up and once I read the certificate card number out to them they realised because I had moved house my name and address didn't match their computer records! However, as I advised them, it was never explained to me that you had to notify them in any way.
They changed details and removed charges.
I have been exempt and had continuous cert cards for the past 15 yrs.
Interestingly, as an experiment I found if you pressed key for making a payment you got through in 2 minutes, to speak to someone to plead yr case I was on the line for 30 mins waiting!
Says it all!

 

[millysue]

This is discussing, no way would I have paid. I am 64 so don't have to pay anyway now. In the passed I think I was only ever asked once to see my cert.
Anyway ALL diabetic that are on medication are entitled to free prescriptions.
Most def ist a cash cow, I feel so crosd for this person.
:-(

 

[caretaker]

i nearly got a fine but got it over turn when i said why don't they tell people when there cert expires like a lot of diabetics there mums and dad looked after all this stuff when there young and 30 years later its all our thought how are we they meant to no about this stupid time limit date .if it was a driving licence a TV licence gas bill .etc we would have got a reminder
i had to pay for one perspiration .
wont do it again they can take me to court

 

[Glynis1]

i nearly got a fine but got it over turn when i said why don't they tell people when there cert expires like a lot of diabetics there mums and dad looked after all this stuff when there young and 30 years later its all our thought how are we they meant to no about this stupid time limit date .if it was a driving licence a TV licence gas bill .etc we would have got a reminder
i had to pay for one perspiration .
wont do it again they can take me to court

Hi, I have had type 1 since age 7 (1966). I am now 55 years old. I have always had a prescription exemption card though it has expired once or twice and caught me out. I am always asked to show my card when collecting prescriptions so I guess that helps me to keep a track on when it expires.

 

[Shabbasama]

I moved to a new doctors surgery in 2011 and requested a mec and promptly got one, this is the first I have ever had and did it because I was asked to show it once at a pharmacy and I said I am a type 1 diabetic picking up insulin, the pharmacy said you will need to show it next time, they haven't asked for it since but it now expires in 2016, so here's hoping that I will be cured of type 1 by then lol! concerning dafne course I found out that this course has been around since 1979 and was started in Germany where the health insurers provide it for free as it is proven to improve your hb1ac it also in Germany reduces your premium for health insurance too, nice they have it sorted shame about over here where it is tough to get any decent health insurance if you are type 1 without paying through the nose!

 

[dannyw]

Thinking about this, surely the GP signing my prescriptions is at fault as much as I supposedly am, if I'm given to believe that ignorance of the law is no excuse, so would it not be prudent for the BSA to give the GP practice a penalty charge as they've compounded the problem by issuing a fraudulent prescription that has medication pertaining to a patient with Type I Diabetes without checking said patient has a valid MEC...

As much as I sympathize with you to say GP is as much at fault isn't right. The issuing of a prescription is not linked to you not having a medical exemption certificate. It's not their job to ensure you have one. That's like blaming a travel agent for selling you a flight ticket cos your passport has expired.
Anyway, I hope you can appeal and I don't think you should be expected to pay but I just don't feel it's anyone else's fault but our own.

 

[caretaker]

Hi, I have had type 1 since age 7 (1966). I am now 55 years old. I have always had a prescription exemption card though it has expired once or twice and caught me out. I am always asked to show my card when collecting prescriptions so I guess that helps me to keep a track on when it expires.

I have a repeat prescription delivered by the chemist i have not seen a prescription for over 5 years + so i never tick a box or show a card .i still got charged for £35 for a prescription i had 6 months ago.
this is got to be stooped everyone with type 1 is exempt . the the NHS nos this. so dose the doctors.and the chemists.
back door privatization screwing the wrong people

 

[andcol]

I'm coming up to 55 this coming May.

When I reached the heady age of two, I was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic and was given a Life Time 'Medical Exemption Certificate' to get all my medication's on prescription free...

I have never had to pay for any medication because of the M.E.C. and when I started to order the prescriptions for myself, I would tick the M.E. box and collect same and this has continued up to this day without problem...

Now, here's the funny part, 2 weeks ago I get a letter from the NHS Business Service, saying I had been given a Penalty Notice for a prescription in October and had declared I had a valid medical exemption certificate.
According to them, they had no evidence of this and as a consequence I had to pay the prescription charge of £32.20 plus a penalty charge of £100

I rang them to sort it out and was told there was no recourse, there was no one in authority I could discuss with and no appeal!

After I explained I was still a child when the medical exemption certificate was awarded to me and that they must have had a record of it in their database, again was told they had no evidence of one and that I must pay and apply for a 5 year one using the FP92A

She told me that my GP would have a copy of the PCE and that if I changed surgery it would have been sent on to the new GP's with my MR's

So I rang my GP's surgery and spoke with the receptionist, who after 5 minutes looking told me they didn't have it and that I should ring the Pharmacy and ask them.

I did and was told they had me down on their system as having a PCE but couldn't help me any more...

So, I collected a 'Form FP92A Application' and filled it in with a letter to my GP explaining what had happened and would he confirm that I had been a Type I Diabetic since 1962 and send it off to the NHS BS in the stamped address envelope supplied.

I also paid the £132.20 over the phone, job done, or so I thought!

Today I get another letter from the NHS BS this time for a repeat prescription in November, this time for £124.15 d'oh!!

So now I ring my GP Surgery and ask if they have sent it off, only to be told that it was to short a time for the GP to have filled in the form...

So now I have to fork out a total of £256.35 that will continue to increase if the FP92A the GP has it languishing still in his 'in tray' for much longer...

This is a deplorable situation, the main database is missing my original certificate and it seems no one else has a copy of it either, and because of this I'm to pay £256.35 for official incompetence for something I'm entitled to with no way of getting a reimbursement...

I was wondering if any one else here has had long term diabetes (30+ years ) that have had to pay for prescriptions because the NHS Business Services have said their database had no evidence of them having one, and what was the final outcome?

I am seriously thinking of passing this on to the local media to bring this out into the open, what do you think?


Stu...

take the GP practice to the small claims court