NHSBSA Penalty Charge - Pharmacist/Dispenser signing FP10

Nornorfox

Again, many thanks to all for your comments, which have been ever so helpful.
We'll look at getting the local MP copied in to our future correspondence with NHSBSA,
I still struggle with the fact that he never claimed exemption, yet gets fined for not being exempt.  It's a mad world.

Nornorfox

Kim_13 said:

The prepayment cert box was crossed in the same biro as the initials, but the on behalf of patient and evidence not seen boxes look like they are greyed and template like (as with the - next to each reason for not paying.) 

Very poor on behalf of the pharmacist, it isn’t even dated and the average 22/23 year old would be more likely to be exempt due to HC2 than a prepayment cert. Low earnings and lack of savings would qualify someone for a HC2. But sadly they’re unlikely to budge on the penalty unless the pharmacist admits that they completed the form with no input from the patient, which might see them sacked so that’s unlikely to happen. 

Young adults should be able to rely on a pharmacist to give them the correct advice/assistance, if they need that. It isn’t that easy if you’ve never dealt with your own prescription before, and depending on what the prescription is for you might be anxious/depressed and not taking it in. My mum came with me for mine and explained what anything on the form meant that I didn’t understand, perhaps worrying about such a fine being incurred. Had she not been there, I would not have known that I should expect to see and complete a form before leaving the pharmacy.

I would nevertheless try his MP. If anyone can get them to move, it will be them. Parliament could look at ways to make the process simpler if they insist on continuing to make only the residents of one quarter of the UK pay while the other nations don’t. Contribution/Means Tested confusion is the usual cause of these penalties. I haven’t needed a prescription for some time thankfully but when I last did, it clearly said that DLA did not qualify for free prescriptions but did not say anything about PIP, despite the rollout having been in place for about 5 years by then. It would safeguard people such as your son if people could only sign on behalf of the patient if they had evidence of the patient’s identity with them, therefore proving their authority to complete a document that NHS BSA insist is the patient’s responsibility if there’s anything amiss. 

In an ideal world the person who made the mistake would reimburse the patient for the penalty element, and the patient take it on the chin if they thought they were on a benefit other than the one they were, etc. In this case there might be more mileage in the fact that on behalf of patient doesn’t appear to have been marked, but I’m guessing any CCTV proving your son never saw the form is long gone.

Are FS your son’s initials? Wondering if the dispenser used their own (which would be more useful as if anything other than the patient’s are used, the on behalf of box should be ticked.)

Thank you for your comments, and I entirely agree.  As for the initials, they are the dispenser's - they're noted as such on the prescription side of the FP10.

sheramber

Have you queried this with the pharmacy yet?

Flugelhorn

sheramber said:

Have you queried this with the pharmacy yet?

that is definitely the first thing to do before trying to get NHSBSA to understand what went on

Nornorfox

Unfortunately that won't be possible - we're away so can't go into the pharmacy before the deadline NHSBSA have given.  It's a Boots pharmacy, so I'll contact their customer service.

Jumblebumble

HillStreetBlues said:

Nornorfox said:

Yes, I wondered about that scenario too, and he assured me that there was no such interaction.  For me the question is why a specific exemption was ticked by the pharmacist, which was apparently evidenced, and why the FP10 wasn't presented to him for consideration or signing.  He has capacity, so would not have needed to have it signed on his behalf.
I dare say that there's been an unintended error here, but unfortunately NHSBSA take a very one dimensional approach and don't seem able to think outside of their rather limited box.

They do, they base it on ignorance of the law is no excuse.
However unfair I don't see there is a legal challenge to the charge,

The OP could have some fun by paying the fine and then taking the pharmacy to the small claims court to recover their loss as a result of their negligence which would leave the pharmacy with the problem of arguing the toss
I doubt the pharmacy would be wanting to tell a district judge why they had made a false declaration on the form

Flugelhorn

I don't see that NHSBSA have any evidence that the OP's son ticked a box and signed that form (if  not his signature / initials and he never touched the form)

HillStreetBlues

Flugelhorn said:

I don't see that NHSBSA have any evidence that the OP's son ticked a box and signed that form (if  not his signature / initials and he never touched the form)

They don't need it.
They will look at did the OP's get a free prescription that he wasn't entitled to?

HillStreetBlues

Jumblebumble said:

The OP could have some fun by paying the fine and then taking the pharmacy to the small claims court to recover their loss as a result of their negligence which would leave the pharmacy with the problem of arguing the toss
I doubt the pharmacy would be wanting to tell a district judge why they had made a false declaration on the form

I did wonder about that.
I think their defence would just be, the OP's son should have pointed out the error when given the meds.

Flugelhorn

HillStreetBlues said:

Flugelhorn said:

I don't see that NHSBSA have any evidence that the OP's son ticked a box and signed that form (if  not his signature / initials and he never touched the form)

They don't need it.
They will look at did the OP's get a free prescription that he wasn't entitled to?

yes thinking about it they will say he should have said something .  The pharmacy are on sticky ground though, ticking F and not indicating that they hadn't seen evidence - we used to have copies of all our dispensing patients PPC  and exemption evidence