NHS penalty charge (extremely worried)

SpiderOftheWeb

Hello everyone, I got a letter from the NHS about medication payments but it also mentioned a £100 penalty charge that I supposedly made but it is my carer who collects and signs it for me since I don't like leaving the house because of my anxiety and depressed plus I have a sleep disorder.

According to my carer, it was the woman behind the counter who signed it and refused to show him the paper and to top it all my DLA has stopped (thanks to the lies of a PIP assessor) so how the hell am I going to pay it? I feel sick.

Guest101

SpiderOftheWeb wrote: »

Hello everyone, I got a letter from the NHS about medication payments but it also mentioned a £100 penalty charge that I supposedly made but it is my carer who collects and signs it for me since I don't like leaving the house because of my anxiety and depressed plus I have a sleep disorder.

According to my carer, it was the woman behind the counter who signed it and refused to show him the paper and to top it all my DLA has stopped (thanks to the lies of a PIP assessor) so how the hell am I going to pay it? I feel sick.

I know it's strange but you can (and should) sign the paper before you go to the pharmacy.


It's your responsibility to make sure it's correct. (your carer may owe you the money for the mistake, but you owe it to the NHS)

TELLIT01

I accept that the carer went to the the pharmacy, but it's the customer's responsibility to ensure that the form is completed correctly. The only time that wouldn't apply is if the customer has an appointee, in which case that appointee would be responsible for ensuring the form is completed correctly.,
I don't see that the carer has any duty to refund the customer as they would presumably be acting on information from the customer.

Guest101

TELLIT01 wrote: »

I accept that the carer went to the the pharmacy, but it's the customer's responsibility to ensure that the form is completed correctly. The only time that wouldn't apply is if the customer has an appointee, in which case that appointee would be responsible for ensuring the form is completed correctly.,
I don't see that the carer has any duty to refund the customer as they would presumably be acting on information from the customer.

I'm presuming from the OP that the carer ticked the wrong box or whatnot. Otherwise why would the OP be complaining?


However that's down to an individual case by case basis. In law, if the carer made a mistake, they could be liable to their employer.

borkid

SpiderOftheWeb wrote: »

Hello everyone, I got a letter from the NHS about medication payments but it also mentioned a £100 penalty charge that I supposedly made but it is my carer who collects and signs it for me since I don't like leaving the house because of my anxiety and depressed plus I have a sleep disorder.

According to my carer, it was the woman behind the counter who signed it and refused to show him the paper and to top it all my DLA has stopped (thanks to the lies of a PIP assessor) so how the hell am I going to pay it? I feel sick.

Why? I've always had to sign even when collecting for my daughter. If this happened surely it would be best to raise the issue with the pharmacy.

pmlindyloo

The real question is why you got the penalty charge.

Was the wrong box ticked? Are you not entitled to free prescriptions? What does the letter say the penalty charge is for?

pmlindyloo

You can appeal the charge.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/penalty-charges/prescription-exemption-checking-service

SpiderOftheWeb

We don't get any paper before we go to the chemist (as far as I know) and when I am sleep thanks to my pills that I take for my sleep disorder, my carer goes to collect my meds without my knowledge until he/she has arrived home. My carer is the one with access to information about me because I don't have a clue about these things.

BTW, I will be making another topic about my PIP assessment because I don't think it is appropriate for this topic.

TELLIT01

I had forgotten that many people have moved to e-prescriptions and if that's the case with the OP he/she will never had seen the prescription. In that situation I would think they have very good grounds for appealing the fine.

SpiderOftheWeb

My carer has just admitted that he/she had ticked the wrong box because as he/she just said 'I didn't have the money so what was I supposed to do? You need that medication' The carer said it is going to help pay the fine.

We all agreed with him that the fact you have to pay those sorts of medication is disgusting especially when they only give you 30 (or 20 if the chemist lose the pills) tabs that sometimes don't work and it is hell trying to get an appointment.

HB58

If you are not eligible for free prescriptions, it might be worth buying a pre-payment certificate so that this does not happen again. Mine saves me a fortune!