Also just got the penalty charge notice through the letterbox today. It appears my exemption certificate has expired... I didn't even realise they did expire!!
Isn't diabetes a chronic condition for which currently there is no cure? We are not going to miraculously recover from the condition any day soon and no longer require meds , so why are we being persecuted by the NHS?
Why are our certificates not being automatically renewed? Isn't this condition challenging enough without this additional stress.
Is this just another unscrupulous way to get some more pennies into the NHS coffers??
Please let me know what others are doing...is anybody challenging these penalties?
Hi Roody,
I am currently challenging mine and it is in a status of "on hold". I sent an email to the BSA and they have been very good at responding. I have copied the email thread I have had with them so others can use the same arguments if necessary. I would at this stage recommend emailing them with a polite request appealing the fine if only to initially get it reviewed. I intend to escalate this to my MP etc... but at this stage am struggling with time to do this, but I will do it soon.
Good luck!
Jimski
//------------------ INITIAL EMAIL TO BSA
I am a Type 1 diabetic and was issued with an exemption certificate in 1992 when I attended University in Nottingham. This was then a paper certificate, and as far as I am aware had no expiry date on it. Unfortunately I no longer have the piece of paper that was issued.
I have not been told about needing to renew this by either the GP, pharmacist or the Business Services Authority in the years between 1992 - 2014 and the letter is the first I have heard of needing to renew it. My assumption was that I have had a valid certificate since 1992 and as my condition is chronic it would last until I die.
Upon receiving this letter I immediately requested an exemption certificate from my GP, this form should be with you now. It has a special request from my GP that in this case you are lenient. I have never tried to 'buck' the system and with a warning letter, or the ability to demonstrate I can obtain a valid certificate I would have quite happily gone to the GP and sorted out the required certificate.
I fully appreciate why you are carrying this out, and believe the revenue you achieve from targeting the dishonest members of society will help to finance other areas of the NHS. However, targeting Type 1 diabetics who are entitled to free prescriptions does not seem to be the right way of doing this, as they are neither being dishonest or trying to buck the system.
I hope you will look on my case favourably and appreciate that I certainly did not mean to be in breach of the prescription terms.
//------------------ BSA Response
Thank you for your email regarding prescription exemption checks.
We have checked our system and we have been unable to find a valid medical exemption certificate for you.
You have told us that you have previously been issued with a medical exemption certificate which you were not required to renew.
If you are able to locate this, can you please send a scanned copy of your medical exemption by reply to this email, or alternatively send this to us by post:
Prescription Exemption Checking Services (PECS)
Bridge House
152 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 6SN
In order to investigate further, we will hold your case and charges. We will contact you when we have further information in due course.
If you require any further assistance, please contact us via email, or by telephone on 0300 330 9291.
//------------------ AFTER INITIAL EMAIL RESPONSE
Thanks very much for getting back to me reference my penalty charge. Unfortunately I have searched high and low for the paper certificate and cannot find it among my old certificates and University belongings and am therefore unable to provide it.
As mentioned in my submission through the web site, I requested a valid medical exemption certificate as soon as I found out that I needed one. In fact I have two now, since I was sent two with the following references 10077861646 (expires 04/11/2019) and10077886304 (expires 07/11/2019). Could you advise what I should do with the duplicate card and let me know which one I should keep?
I have a number of issues with the penalty:
1) The form has no method to appeal.
2) You have given me no way of putting this right and have seemingly found me guilty without consideration to the facts.
3) I have never been warned of this, whether it be by a Pharmicist, Doctor or the BSA.
4) I am entitled to free prescriptions due to the chronic nature of my condition, which I had assumed my old paper certificate was valid for life, especially since my condition will never change in my life time.
5) The BSA is targeting the wrong people and is not taking any consideration of the upset and harm that these fines and clearly causing people with Type 1 diabetes who have already had to endure the chronic illness for a long time, in my case 28 years. A quick review of the
Diabetes.co.uk forums will see the evidence for this.
I also have some questions I'd like the answers to so that I can understand what the process has been here:
1) Do you verify the contents of the prescription which the penalty is raised against? I.e. if mine is for insulin, blood testing strips, high blood pressure pills etc... should there not be some due diligence to check on the patient's conditions before issuing this fine and causing the patient yet more suffering?
2) Are you carrying out similar penalties on cancer sufferers etc... or is it purely done on a random selection of people from a database?
3) Will you be sending communications to surgeries, clinics, pharmacists to ensure that they do not issue prescriptions without a valid warning to all diabetic patients, and any other patients who could have a valid exemption certificate?
As I intimated in my original web submission, I fully support the process of fining individuals who do not have a legitimate claim to free prescriptions, but for those of us that do, and can provide a certificate within days and which could be back dated to the year of diagnosis by their GP, it seems completely wrong.
Once again, thanks for responding to me so promptly and placing my penalty on hold until further consideration. I hope you can treat my case in a different light now that you have all the detail, along with a supporting document by my GP which is included on the exemption request form.
//------------------ FINAL BSA Response
Thank you for your email detailing your concerns. I have attempted to answer each of your concerns in turn below.
With regards to your duplicate Medical Exemption Certificates, both will be valid. It is up to you which certificate you wish to use when collecting your prescriptions.
The NHSBSA acts on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health to administer exemption schemes in line with The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2000 (as amended) and, as such, has no authority to exercise discretion in waiving prescription costs; therefore there is no appeal process. Full legislation can be viewed at
www.legislation.gov.uk. The relevant part of this regulation relating to medical exemption is Regulation 7 (Exemptions).
It may be helpful to explain that, although you are diabetic and have been for a number of years, this does not automatically exempt you to free prescriptions. As you are now aware to entitle a patient to free NHS prescriptions, a Medical Exemption (Medex) certificate must be issued by the NHSBSA and be valid when NHS prescriptions are dispensed which I am pleased to see is now in place. To be clear, it is written in regulation that it is the Medex certificate that entitles a patient to free prescriptions, not the medical condition. Therefore, as you did not have a valid exemption certificate, you are liable for the charges.
It is apparent from your email that you were unaware that your certificate had expired and that you believed you were covered by a Medex received some 28 years ago whilst at University. I appreciate that you had assumed that you were in continuing receipt of a Medex as you had not received a replacement card and you were never informed by your GP or pharmacist for the need for this card. Whilst I understand your perspective, I must advise that it is the patient’s responsibility to check their eligibility for free NHS prescriptions, when signing the declaring that they have an exemption listed on the back of the prescription.
We do recognise that patients can and do make genuine mistakes when it comes to declaring whether they are exempt from prescription charges.
In response to other concerns you have raised; checks are based on a random sample. Prescription forms from patients who have claimed exemption from payment are checked to verify the accuracy of the exemption declared, rather than a check of the contents of the prescription. Where entitlement cannot be confirmed the patient is advised, sent a penalty charge notice and requested to confirm entitlement or pay applicable charges.
Regarding communications, I can confirm that booklets and leaflets have been distributed to GP’s and pharmacists including education on which benefits and exemptions are needed to allow patients to qualify for free prescriptions.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Whilst I do appreciate that my response may not be that which you had wished for, I do hope that you understand the reason for receiving the penalty charge notice.
If you require any further assistance, please contact us via email, or by telephone on 0300 330 9291.
