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Type 1: Prescription fine

How odd, I got my medical exemption form today for epilepsy medication and the GP I saw was really quite pleasant and knowledgeable about it. She even helped me fill out the form and told me exactly what I needed to do with it, and advised me to get a receipt from the pharmacy so I can claim back any money I've paid for prescriptions from today until I get my exemption card.
 

Hi Giverny,

Don't get me wrong. My receptionist was really helpful.. She just had no idea about the prescription charge "sting". Believing the same as most, that the exemption for T1s was a given..!
 
Hi my mums is also type one diagnosed 1995 and she had never had to pay either. They have sent her 3 bills totaling over £150 now. She rang diabetes UK charity to ask for advice on what she should do and was told that the body who issue the fines because that's what they are fines, Had agreed that they would inform everyone before just fining them. But they have broken that agreement. Obviously. My mum was told to write to her MP. But if he doesn't help her then she is thinking of going to the papers. And diabetes uk didn't discourage her either. So all I can suggest is get your certificate from your doctors and write to your MP. If then you still feel nothing is being sorted papers could also be an option. This has happened to a lot of people already, this was what my mum was told. Luckily for me I'm on benefits because of complications because of being newly diagnosed. So I don't have to pay anyway. Oh and by the way, the certificate need renewing every 5 years. Again its ridiculous, because we are never gonna not have diabetes. Just classic of the way diabetics get treated unfairly. Hope this helps
 
I may be a little late to the party here and I have only read bits of the thread but I was stung for £46 earlier this year is similar way. What I now understand is it is not your condition that entitles you to the exemption but the having the exemption card. Your condition entitles you to apply/ have the card. There is no avoiding paying the initial invoice you receive but if contact them they place you on the exemption database in anticipation of you applying for your card and you will not have to pay for any subsequent months where you may not have had a card. Of course you must apply immediately at that point.
The purpose of this activity is to recover costs from benefit frauds who take advantage of pharmacies sometimes 'lax' approach to requesting to see a card. Unfortunately, genuinely entitled people who have simply 'not known' are also being caught in this exercise.
 
I received a letter from the NHS stating that my exemption certificate had expired. I forwarded it to my GP in August 2014 for a signature. I finally got a response in January 2015 ( after prompting). I am now the proud owner of a new exemption card that lasts I believe 5 years. By the way I have never ever been asked to produce this card and have been a type 1 diabetic since 1978. Perhaps the government are trying to crack down on people who tick the box and get away with it thus costing the NHS even more money that they can ill afford to loose.
 
Hi I'm type 2 diabetic have been since 2005. when I first found out that I was diabetic my gp went through everything with me she even gave me a form to fill in and not long after I received my medical exemption card. Every 5 years I get a new card and every 5 years my pharmacist asks if I got my new card and always asks to see it so she can update the system
 
Like aries71, my GP gave me a stamped and signed form for me to complete and send which I did. The exemption card came through the post shortly after. That was in 2010 when I started taking Metformin, prior to this I was diet controlled Type 2, and didn't qualify for exemption (even though I was on various drugs for post Heart Bypass, which unfortunately doesn't count).

I have recently received a reminder letter from the NHS, asking me to get my GP to send in a new for FP92A form which he did for me when I asked him.

Reading earlier entries in this thread, I sympathise with people who, have never been told about the exemption certificate process and find the attitude that 'ignorance is no defence' not only unhelpful but quite rude. How can anybody be expected to guess what they have to do, if they haven't been informed about the system. As for the NHS Business department fining people for not having a certificate but 'claiming' they have. A degree of common sense would be well employed here. If someone has claimed without actually having a certificate, but they are Diabetic and requiring medication, why not inform them of the rules so that they can get one. Or is this just a quick way to get some money into the NHS coffers.
 
Like the OP, I received a fine a couple of months ago.

Mine was for £132.

I paid it but what surprised me, was the fact that my card/certificate was over 12 months out of date. It was because of this fact and that I had received many prescriptions in that time, that I assumed that just because the card had expired and diabetes is a life-time illness, that the expiry date on the card had no relevance.

Common sense is not part of the equation it seems.

I was quite annoyed at the time and certainly felt no better after calling the NHS and enquiring about it, but hey, I will make sure I remember next time it is due.
 
Been reading with interest the items about Exemption of Payment for diabetes with prescription charges. I am type1, 50 years, and applied for exemption when the system first started. This I renewed every five years up until I reached 60. In all the years I have been getting prescriptions covered by an exemption certificate, and I get other items monthly for related and unrelated conditions, I was only once asked to show my certificate and that was at a hospital pharmacy. As I had been brought in after a bad asthma attack by 999, the last thing on my mind was a certificate.
It is quite easy to get the certificate as stated in the other replies, I sent the form and a sae., to my practice nurse and received 5 yearly reminders from the health authority.
It is incredible thar Doctors, Hospitals and Pharmacies all say different things, but basically we do need that little card, as a percentage of scripts are checked and that's when alarm bells ring, as some members of society do try to get free prescriptions.
Perhaps a box on the back of the script might help, but then there would have to be checks.
I am aware of this happening to people and after appeal have been successful, sadly others have'nt.
The post code lottery syndrome takes effect, some medics know the rules others don't, some diabetics are well looked after by the G.P. with regular reviews, some can get testing sticks for blood testing, and on and on. Sadly people come second best before cuts, and it is unlikely this will change in the near future, it will probably get worse.
Remember, if we can fight diabetes we can fight virtually anything. Life could be easier with just a little thought and consistency by the Government departments concerned.
 
i got told just last week by nurse that a person got fined for not putting he/she was medical except and put that he was unemployed even though there were so be careful what you tick on the script before handing it over
 
Thanks guys - this information is really useful. I have only been diagnosed diabetic type 2 December last year, and knew as diabetic not pay for prescriptions but I am registered disabled and get DLA, so I dont pay for prescriptions anyway, also in receipt of working tax credits - but this is due to end as I am being made redundant on 23rd February. I will look into this too. I can see where people are coming from - my pharmacist never asks to see my card - partly because I am not always able to lip-read them and they cant use BSL, and also Boots keep the details on their system. I do, however, make sure that every time I get a new card they see it and they always take the number down. Like one of the comments earlier, it does seem odd that they need the number on the prescription for proof - but why cant the redesign the form to incorporate a box for them to use? That is weird. Hopefully any fines issued can be overcome by reasonable process and letter from doctor but with NHS being financially tight at the moment its possible that may not happen. Wishing you success in your efforts though.
 
I was diagnosed with Type ll in 2007. I filled in a form at the chemist to claim free prescriptions but at the time I had already paid for an annual one so received my script free any way. I contacted them and they said I would automatically be sent an exemption card, which I was. They have automatically replaced it every time it needs renewing. So once you are in the system you don't need to worry. So don't pay the bill & ask them to check their records for how many years you have been receiving diabetic medication.
 

With all due respect, @kaz3618 , your advice is incorrect

Renewal is not automatic, as many on these threads have found out., so whether or not you were in the system, renewal is a must. Not paying the bill that they send could have some nasty repercussionsnas it really doesn't matter how long you have been prescribed diabetic medication. It works thusly:

Apply for the exemption card using the form from your health centre/ surgery.
Use the card once received .
Renew the card prior to its expiry after five years .

If I were you, I would check the expiry date on yours, not hope that they will automatically renew it

Oh, and welcome, by the way

Signy
 
donnellysdogs said:
Agreed...
Click to expand...
I am struck by the similarity of the arguments that because some people who should be entitled to free prescriptions do not get them it should then follows that others that do should have this right removed. Aneuran Bevan who resigned fro the Government in 1950 on this issue must be turning in his grave!
 
I received one of these ridiculous fines last month and have reluctantly paid on the advice of Diabetes UK, who are up in arms about it and have contacted the head of the NHS Business Services Authority to complain. As yet, they've not heard back.

Many hospitals are unaware of this stealth tax - my team at Guy's were speechless when I showed them the letter I'd received. They're now posting messages up around the clinic urging patients to check, renew and get a new card from their GP if they've lost theirs (like I had mine).

The problem is there's no joined-up thinking on this. One person at the NHS Business Authority said it wasn't up to them to remind people when their certificates were about to expire. Their own website says they WILL contact patients. I never had any contact from them, until the fine arrived.

I know six of seven people with Type 1 personally - NONE of them have an exemption card that they're aware of.

It's being terribly managed by the NHS - and is a stealth tax.

Both Guy's and Diabetes UK have urged people affected by this to write to their MPs and the press. The louder we shout, the better the chance of notice being taken.
 
Perhaps some confusion arises in those cases where the newly diagnosed with Diabetes is ALREADY exempt due to the fact that they are on benefits and thus the pharmacy knows that you are exempt. Or, one was exempt as a pensioner when diagnosed after his 65th birthday (her 60th).

BECAUSE LIKE SOME POOR POSTERS ABOVE I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS BULL...T CERTIFICATE EITHER. I would like to see the authorities take a well represented victim to court because the Exemption Certificate could not possibly come under the auspices of the Criminal Law.
 
this is what we all need to make sure you have to stop these fines coming our way just pop into your doctors and ask for the form and make sure they stamp it as well
 

Actually I believe that if the exemption box was ticked and then signed by the patient it could come under criminal law as fraud.
 
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