Pharmacists to get £70 fee to halt bogus claims

Pharmacists are to be paid a £70 bounty to help catch patients who fraudulently claim exemption from the prescription charge.

The increased fee – previously they could claim only £10 – is designed to bolster the NHS anti-fraud drive that has saved £48m since 1999.

Evading the prescription charge of £6.25 is the commonest fraud carried out by patients. Four out of five prescriptions are issued to patients who claim exemption from the charge on the grounds of low income, pregnancy or being under 16.

Most are genuine but, since April 1999, claimants have had to prove they are exempt or the pharmacist must record "no evidence was seen" before dispensing the drugs. Since August 2001, nearly 75,000 people have had penalty charges imposed for wrongly claiming exemption, raising more than £1m. Overall, since 1999, pharmaceutical fraud by patients has fallen 41 per cent.

However, £69m is still lost in patient fraud. Lord Hunt, the Health minister, said: "The NHS has seen a huge reduction in the amount of money lost to services ... but there is still more to do. Fraud against the NHS will not be tolerated."

The NHS Counter Fraud Service, set up in 1998, employs 400 specialists and has saved the NHS almost £200m, the Department of Health said.