Type 1: Prescription fine
- Thread starter molivers73
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Well it seems as thought the NHS Christmas fairy has delivered another fine to a type I diabetic! Received it a day or two ago and have been reeling at the system. I've had type I diabetes since I was 10 and that's thirty years ago, and in all that time I have never been asked to produce a medical exemption certificate.
About an hour or the phone to the Business Services Authority and apparently I can't have the fine removed, so it's pay up. I find this amazing that there's another department who issue them, it's a Gp who signs it off and it's all your own responsibility. Yes I don't have a certificate, so under law I am supposed to have a certificate to get free prescriptions. My Gp does not keep records whether I've been issued one, the department that issue them don't keep records beyond five years, the penalty department take three months to send a letter, I have this condition for the rest of my life.
Plan is to ring the Careline mentioned in a previous reply, then the MP......
Simple solution to all of this, the GP puts on your prescription if the person is exempt. I'm actually happy to pay for medications that aren't related to my diabetes, no problem but in reality all medical exemptions should be ticked off by the GP, not an individual. Then that's 2 NHS departments gone, probably a thousand administrators and we can get them all working as nurses in stead.
Sorry rant over, but not going to take this lying down. On and if I do get taken to court, in six months time, I lose my job..... Totally fair.
donnellysdogs
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Wondering whether Anne Robinson would be interested in this??
She tackles a lot of larger companies about their trading and stuff.
Quite possibly, I'm trying to find the law side of things at the moment, but this needs to be changed. I am in total agreement to chasing down the fraudsters, but where's the opportunity to appeal for those who've just made a mistake on getting something completed?
Ok, I might be clutching at straws here but:-
(g) that a person is not liable by virtue of a penalty notice—
So under g(ii) of statutory instrument 1999 number 2794, you have to prove that if you didn't act wrongfully or with any lack of care then you aren't liable to the penalty notice.......
Hmmm I wish I was a lawyer because I'm probably reading that wrong!
(g) that a person is not liable by virtue of a penalty notice—
(i) to pay at any time so much of any amount referred to in section 122B(1)(a) or (b) of the Act for which he is jointly and severally liable with another as at that time has been paid, or ordered by a court to be paid, by that other(a), or
(ii) to a penalty charge, or a surcharge, if he shows that he did not act wrongfully, or with any lack of care, in respect of the amount recoverable as mentioned in section 122B(1)(a) or (b) of the Act(b).
So under g(ii) of statutory instrument 1999 number 2794, you have to prove that if you didn't act wrongfully or with any lack of care then you aren't liable to the penalty notice.......
Hmmm I wish I was a lawyer because I'm probably reading that wrong!
donnellysdogs
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T1's there is no cure... Its a lifetime of 5 yearly wasted form filling. T2's are in the majority the same but some may come off drugs, but these people se to be rare (and for how long).... Loads of illnesses qualify for free scripts on a long term basis of having a critical illness.. So why can't one certificate last for life? More dam bureacracy. Think I'll write another letter to our MP on this....
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Hi donnellysdogs, one of the odd things is that the exemption list is actually quite small. It was first put together in 1968 and was changed for the first time in 2009 when some cancers were added!
This is why I'm not sure the certificate is a new thing, just something that no-one really knew much about.
This is why I'm not sure the certificate is a new thing, just something that no-one really knew much about.
donnellysdogs
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Exemption Certificates and Fines
You can get all your NHS prescriptions free if you have a valid medical exemption certificate because you have:
a permanent fistula (for example, caecostomy, colostomy, laryngos-tomy or ileostomy) which needs continuous surgical dressing or an appliance;
a form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison’s Disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential;
diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism;
diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone;
hypoparathyroidism;
myasthenia gravis;
myxoedema (that is, hypothyroidism which needs thyroid hormone replacement);
epilepsy which needs continuous anticonvulsive therapy;
a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without the help of another person; or
cancer and are undergoing treatment for:
cancer;
the effects of cancer; or,
the effects of cancer treatment.
Will have to look at other googles and see whether other "diseased" persons are going through the same..
You can get all your NHS prescriptions free if you have a valid medical exemption certificate because you have:
a permanent fistula (for example, caecostomy, colostomy, laryngos-tomy or ileostomy) which needs continuous surgical dressing or an appliance;
a form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison’s Disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential;
diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism;
diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone;
hypoparathyroidism;
myasthenia gravis;
myxoedema (that is, hypothyroidism which needs thyroid hormone replacement);
epilepsy which needs continuous anticonvulsive therapy;
a continuing physical disability which means you cannot go out without the help of another person; or
cancer and are undergoing treatment for:
cancer;
the effects of cancer; or,
the effects of cancer treatment.
Will have to look at other googles and see whether other "diseased" persons are going through the same..
donnellysdogs
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"Can I be prosecuted if I wrongly claim help with health costs?Yes – you may be prosecuted instead of incurring a penalty charge. This means you may also face a fine of up to £2,500."
From the nhsbsa- so our people are having penalty charges... Didn't realise the actual fines could be £2500!!!
From the nhsbsa- so our people are having penalty charges... Didn't realise the actual fines could be £2500!!!
donnellysdogs
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I can't link websites.. But it is hugely scarey to see the amount of money that they are getting back.. No doubt frsudulent people and innocent ignorants too.. (Sorry for that expression).
This is totally scarey!
This is totally scarey!
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The fraudulent claims must cost the NHS a fortune each year and it's good that they are catching those involved in this deception, but as we can see from the comments in this thread those with a life-long condition like insulin-dependent diabetics are being caught up in this mistakenly believing they are entitled to free prescriptions without obtaining an exemption certificate.
Hopefully by making this thread a sticky it can act as a warning to others to get that certificate sent off for.
kitty55
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I mentioned it at my pharmacy yesterday when collecting insulin and she wasn't aware of people being fined but said that it is not her task to remind people to have a valid exemption. Hope mine comes through very soon!!!!
rubold
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It looks like it is no one's responsibility to advise eligible patients that they need an examption certificate. My pharmacist also had no knowledge of the fines and said when I queried if she ever asked to see an exemption card: "No, because we know all our patients here". I believe that is the problem here, some pharmacists have failed to perform their obligations by failing to ask for the exemption card.
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Not really. It's the patient's responsibility to tick the box, and the pharmacist only then has to ask to see it. When the patient responds that they don't have it with them/mumbles something about "What", etc, the pharmacist simply ticks the "Evidence not seen" box and dispenses. This is the advice that they are given. They are told not to withhold treatment where there may be some doubt.
rubold
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I agree it is the patiient's responsibility to tick the box, but I have ticked that box for 38 years and never once been asked to produce a certificate. So in all those ticks the pharmacist has failed in their obligation to request the certificate.
Also where is the evidence not seen box?
Also where is the evidence not seen box?
The Pharmacist just writes seen or not seen on the top of the form. Personally I do think the pharmacist is equally at fault for not asking to see the certificate each time a prescription is collected.
