The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has reported an “increase” in the number of prescriptions from patients using the “HRT only PPC” prescription charge exemption for products that are “not covered” by the category, according to the negotiator.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) this week (August 11) revealed that “over 200,000 prescriptions” were incorrectly submitted using the category “in the 12 months between June 2024 and May” this year.
In an email newsletter sent to pharmacies on Monday, it “encouraged” pharmacy teams to “familiarise themselves with the full list of covered medicines to help patients avoid incorrect exemption claims”.
Read more: Antidepressant SSP issued amid ‘large number’ of invalid claims
CPE also warned that the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has advised that patients found to have “wrongly claimed” for help with their NHS prescription costs will “face a penalty charge” or even “prosecution” in some cases.
“If a patient is unsure whether they are entitled to free prescriptions, pharmacy teams should advise [them] to pay for their prescription” and provide them a refund form with “information on how to claim a refund at a later date”, the negotiator said.
Read more: HRT prescription items soar 22% after PPC introduction
“The NHSBSA will continue to process the prescription in accordance with the exemption or charge status declared by the patient,” it explained.
But it warned that patients will be sent “an enquiry letter asking them to confirm their entitlement” to free NHS prescriptions if their claims cannot be confirmed.
“Incorrectly claiming”
According to the negotiator, Sertraline was the “most common medicine” for which patients were “incorrectly claiming a prescription charge exemption” using the HRT PPC category.
Others included methadone, amoxicillin and antidepressants such as Amitriptyline, Citalopram and Fluoxetine, it added.
Read more: HRT PPC website crashes as more than 37k purchased in first days of scheme
The DH launched a new PPC in April 2023 to allow women to access HRT more cheaply.
More than 37,000 PPCs were purchased following its launch, it said at the time, causing the NHSBSA website to temporarily crash.
Meanwhile, CPE urged pharmacy teams to follow serious shortage protocols (SSPs) “correctly” in June after many pharmacy claims did not meet requirements.
