Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure the prescription exemption checking service distinguishes between people intentionally defrauding the NHS and cases where a prepayment prescription certificate expires; and whether fines should be imposed in both circumstances.

Penalties are issued in accordance with The National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999 where an exemption claimed cannot be verified. The current penalty charges do not differentiate between fraud and error. When a patient does not pay for a prescription they have a responsibility to declare a valid exemption. Further communication campaigns will be carried out over the next 12 months to increase awareness and patient understanding of qualifying benefits and exemptions.