Prescription penalty charge notice

[Penaltycharge]

Sorry if this is long.

Recently I was in a car accident and following that unable to drive / walk with ease for a short period due to injuries sustained. I take regular medication and this ran out during the period I was immobilised for. I phoned my doctors and explained the situation who were happy for a third party to collect my prescription for me.

A neighbour kindly agreed to collect it for me. I gave her £20, told her that I pay for my prescriptions (2 items) and she went to collect it. She returned with my medication and thought it was all sorted.

Today (3 months later) I receive a prescription penalty charge notice for the prescription that my neighbour collected. It seems she didn’t pay for it and now I am being fined. I contacted the neighbour first of all who is absolutely adamant that she paid for the prescription as I said, although she no longer has a receipt as it has been 3 months.

I then contacted the phone number on the letter to state that I did not collect the prescription and explained why, explained that I asked my neighbour to collect and pay for the prescription and gave her the money to do so and that as far I was aware until today this had been paid for. I was told this does not matter and it is my responsibility to make sure it is paid for.

AIBU I’m thinking this

a) punishes people for deception that was not their own. If my neighbour has indeed pocketed my money then I am basically being fined for being the victim of theft and deception.

b) directly discriminates against those who cannot collect their own prescriptions, the physically disabled etc.

c) cannot be legal! If someone stole my car I wouldn’t be liable for the parking or speeding tickets so why am I liable for this fine when I had no knowledge of my neighbours assumed theft from me.

Has anyone had any chance in appealing this. They are telling me there is no right to appeal unless I believe I should not have paid it (which is not the case as I do pay for prescriptions and thought I had paid for this one) and if I don’t pay it in 14 days it doubles.

As pp have said if you know the date/time it was collected would it be possible to ask the pharmacy if they have any records of payment/till receipt etc? I appreciate this may be a long shot.

They have told me the income support box was ticked, they have not sent me a copy of the prescription and say they do not have to. I’ve only got a few more days until it doubles and whenever I email them it takes 3 days to get a response and it’s the same thing over and over. No you can’t appeal and no we don’t have to prove anything to you.

I have suggested contacting the pharmacy to see if it was paid and I asked them for the date and time the prescription was collected. They have given me a date range and said they do not have the exact date and time and even if they did contacting the pharmacist would not prove anything as I could not prove that the payment was for that prescription and not another.

I wouldn't have realised this could happen and it's made me wonder how the prescription payment systems work. Normally when you buy goods in a shop the items are scanned and you pay, often not being given a receipt. However as clearly a lot if prescriptions are free how is it accounted for at the chemists?

There is a standard charge for a prescription and many drugs cost more than the prescription charge so how are the payments accounted for? Do they get rung through the till or accounted for on an NHS system separate from shop takings? I would ask your neighbour if she remembers whether she paid for both by cash and if she got offered a receipt?

I also think you need to speak to your MP as well. Good luck with this.

The way the pharmacy gets paid is, we send the bundle off at the end of the month, say there are 300 paid scripts in the box the pricing authority deduct 300 x £8.80 off the payment to the pharmacy.
So we don’t directly send them the money it’s taken off our reimbursement for the value of that months items.

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/caring-carers-and-long-term-conditions/can-i-pick-up-a-prescription-for-someone-else/

Looking at this page makes me think that whoever signs the back of the prescription should be liable for any error and penalty Did your neighbour sign the back of the prescription?

How do you work that out? It says nothing of the sort.