EXCLUSIVE

Two thirds of pharmacists are opposed to government plans for them to carry out prescription fraud checks, a C+D poll has suggested.

 

Sixty-five per cent of 262 readers who took part in the poll said the plans for pharmacists to check patients’ eligibility for free prescriptions at the “click of a button” would undermine patient trust.

 

Only 35 per cent of respondents to the poll, which ran from January 6 to 12, agreed that they should check eligibility electronically because it was “important for the profession to play its part in preventing fraud”.

 

The Department of Health (DH) estimated that the proposed system, due to be implemented by 2018, would save the NHS £150 million a year.

 

Readers posting on the C+D website suggested that the DH should focus on linking software in GP practices with the benefits system so that exemptions were checked automatically before prescriptions were dispensed.

 

“It is a lot of money and I want to play my part, but proving exemptions should be done at the patient’s registered GP practice. This will also ensure ‘Mr Dodgy’ does not go around trying [to defraud] all pharmacies in town,” said superintendent Baba Akomolafe.

 

Medication without fear

 

Fellow superintendent Chirag Patel suggested the DH could make up its £150m shortfall through business tax, which would allow patients to continue to “get the medication they need without fear”.

 

Mr Patel questioned how pharmacies would connect with the online exemption checking system, when they still struggled to view patients’ medical records or “reliably receive” electronic prescriptions.

Readers' concerns about the effect on patient relationships were shared by pharmacy leaders last week, who suggested they could be "compromised" by "increased levels of scrutiny".
 

As part of the "major clampdown" on fraud in the health service, the current system of post-prescription checks would be expanded and patients who claimed free prescriptions fraudulently would face a penalty of up to £150, the DH said. Persistent offenders could face a court hearing, a £2,500 fine and a criminal record, it added.