# Prescription exemption cards



## MacG3 (Jan 19, 2015)

Is your perscription exemption card up to date? As a diabetic you are usually exempt from paying perscription charges. 

The NHS has finally got around to auditing patients who tick boxes on the back of perscriptions, and are currently checking about 10% of scripts against either their own data or requesting data from other sources such as the DWP.

It's a quick process, get a form from your GP's and they will send it off for you. The cards last 5 years and YOU WILL BE LIABLE FOR A PENALTY PAYMENT if your card has expired. 

Best to check your card, if you can't find it and are unsure then the safest bet is to fill the form in and get another one. At least that way you can at least argue you tried to do the right thing.


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## Northerner (Jan 19, 2015)

I handed in my form at the beginning of December and haven't heard a thing yet - wondering how long I should wait before trying again? Anyone know how long it should take to come through?


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## BigMalc (Jan 19, 2015)

Mine took about 6 weeks, but might have been as many as eight. It came back just before Xmas, but I imagine that the festive break could easily add a week or two to timings due to inevitable backlog.  Hope it doesnt take too long.


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## Northerner (Jan 19, 2015)

Thanks Malc. I've just got a new prescription, so won't need anything for another 6 weeks - I'll wait and see what happens.


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## Copepod (Jan 19, 2015)

Last time I needed to renew, I handed it into GP and was told come come back in a couple of days to collect and send off to whatever DHSS prescription offices in Newcastle are called these days. So, perhaps worth checking that your form isn't still in GP surgery, Northerner?


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## Northerner (Jan 19, 2015)

Copepod said:


> Last time I needed to renew, I handed it into GP and was told come come back in a couple of days to collect and send off to whatever DHSS prescription offices in Newcastle are called these days. So, perhaps worth checking that your form isn't still in GP surgery, Northerner?



They didn't mention collecting it when I handed it in, and I didn't do that with the original, but if it doesn't turn up in the next couple of weeks I will ask


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## katie (Jan 19, 2015)

Omg I'm so glad I read this. I haven't had a card for years and thought it was automatically re-issued so was just expecting it to pop through the post one day. I'm going to go to the doctor's on the way home, thanks!


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## Copepod (Jan 19, 2015)

Northerner said:


> They didn't mention collecting it when I handed it in, and I didn't do that with the original, but if it doesn't turn up in the next couple of weeks I will ask



Your surgery processses might have changed in the last 5 years. Eg want to avoid postal charges that could be met by patients, even though surgery is probably dealing with several exemption card forms per week and all could go in same envelope with a single stamp, whereas each patient only needs to post once every 5 years. In my case, I changed surgeries due to moving cities between last 2 issues, so I asked.


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## Northerner (Jan 19, 2015)

katie said:


> Omg I'm so glad I read this. I haven't had a card for years and thought it was automatically re-issued so was just expecting it to pop through the post one day. I'm going to go to the doctor's on the way home, thanks!



Hi katie!  I also thought they would at least send a reminder/renewal form.

Hope you are well!


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## parrdale (Jan 19, 2015)

with my wife's MS she has been on meds now for years, her card started in 2009 and run out oct 2014, I didn't know about it had to search high and low for the card. Speaking to one of our district nurse's they wasn't aware of them running out. could be for the most serious problems you are not really expected to live that long so only given 5 years on the card.
anyway after a few phone calls the penalty fee has been left off but still got to pay the charges.


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## brett (Jan 19, 2015)

Unless living in Wales, free prescriptions for everyone


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## trophywench (Jan 19, 2015)

or ancient in England ditto.  Still it saves me the trouble of renewing it so no bad thing !


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## pav (Jan 19, 2015)

Mine has taken around 6 weeks, after they say they never received my first application and so I had to do another one which was in the first week of Jan.

I phoned them the other day as needed a shopping list of prescriptions and my card had expired and was told they have processed both applications and issued 2 certificates, which I recieved to day.


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## SimplesL (Jan 20, 2015)

My hubby received a reminder form & went into practise who arranged for it to be signed &sent off.

New card arrived about a month later.

My card expires in August so hopefully it will be the same.


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## katie (Jan 27, 2015)

Northerner said:


> Hi katie!  I also thought they would at least send a reminder/renewal form.
> 
> Hope you are well!



Hi North 
I'm alright thank you, hope you are all good!

I can't remember the last time I saw or heard about my medical exemption card! I've sent off my form today. Maybe they didn't have my address, but I'm not sure...


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## Laura davies (Jan 27, 2015)

Hi Brett, im living in Wales does this mean i do not need an exemption card?


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## trophywench (Jan 27, 2015)

Yes Laura - the whole of Wales is (are) exempt!


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## Laura davies (Jan 28, 2015)

Some perk then quite ironic i paid 10k for operation privately as waiting times so long when in chronic pain but i can get free canesten pessaries if i get thrush lol


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## Robin (Jan 30, 2015)

I was thinking I wouldn't have to renew my exemption certificate as I will be over 60 by the time it expires in 2017, but it occurred to me that the state pension age is changing, ( I won't receive my state pension now until I'm 66.) Does anyone know if the free prescription age is rising with the State Pension age? I tried googling it and came across one brief reference to the possibility in a government leaflet, but couldn't find anything definitive.


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## Copepod (Jan 30, 2015)

Robin - there may not be a difinitive answer now. If I were you, I'd check a few months before your current card is due to expire.


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## grovesy (Jan 30, 2015)

I turned 60 last year but don't get state pension yet! But now get free prescriptions.


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## Caroline (Jan 30, 2015)

I must be one of the lucky ones as when mine ran out it was changed automatically. I'll have to look to see when it runs out again to be safe


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## robert@fm (Jan 30, 2015)

Coincidentally, I got my reminder yesterday.  So nipped out to the surgery for an FP92A; will fill it out and drop it off on Monday.


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## nancy boo (Feb 1, 2015)

Northerner said:


> I handed in my form at the beginning of December and haven't heard a thing yet - wondering how long I should wait before trying again? Anyone know how long it should take to come through?


I put mine renewal form in at the beginning of December 2014 and my card arrived mid January 2015 about 6 weeks It was back dated to November when I signed the form.


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## Northerner (Feb 16, 2015)

Well, I still haven't received mine, despite handing the form in to the surgery in early December, so this morning I went and filled another one in. I've been reading alarming tales of people getting fines through the post for prescriptions they have said were exempt, but their card/certifcate had expired. No warning, and no appeal, apparently, despite the fact some people have had this incurable disease for decades and never been warned to renew their exemption  

This page gives details of how to apply (only applies in England, elsewhere prescriptions are free anyway):

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/HealthCosts/2095.aspx


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## Pumper_Sue (Feb 16, 2015)

Give them a ring Alan and ask where it is.


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## Copepod (Feb 19, 2015)

Helpful page on Diabetes UK website - see http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Living_with_diabetes/Free-prescriptions/


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## Northerner (Feb 19, 2015)

Copepod said:


> Helpful page on Diabetes UK website - see http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Living_with_diabetes/Free-prescriptions/



Good link Copepod 



> If you were registered for a certificate then or have been registered since then you should receive reminders about the need to have an up to date certificate. However, if you did not have a certificate in 2002 then you will not be on the NHS BSA’s system and you will not have received any reminder letters.
> 
> Likewise, if you have moved since the last time you registered and did not update them with your address then you will also not have received any reminders.



Well, I was first registered in 2008, haven't moved since then, and have never received a reminder. It's very unfair that they are issuing fines without warnings for people who are exempt by the very nature of their incurable condition


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## Northerner (Feb 19, 2015)

Here's a good blog entry from Gavin, the 'DiAthlete' (who ran from JOG-Land's End in 30 days for JDRF) who has been fined £140 for not having a certificate, despite never being told he needed one in 15 years. He's also started a petition, so please sign and share it (link at the end of the blog post)

http://diathlete.org/lifelong-medical-exemption-certificate/


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## trophywench (Feb 19, 2015)

Good for him!  Always said it was stupid.  Signed.

Is it a Law? - as in 'ignorance of the Law is no defence'  ?


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## Copepod (Feb 20, 2015)

It's a penalty charge, not a fine (which strictly speaking can only be imposed by a court after a person is found guilty).

Just heard on BBC radio news that Diabetes UK has taken up the cases of people with diabetes getting penalty charges for claiming free prescriptions without the right paperwork.


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## Northerner (Feb 20, 2015)

I think that what appalls me, apart from the issuing of penalties in the first place without warning, is the scale of the charge - £100  That's what you get for potentially causing an accident whilst driving using a mobile phone!


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## Copepod (Feb 20, 2015)

Baroness Young was speaking about the issue in BBC Radio 4 Today programme just before 7am.  Presenter was appalled by stupidity of situation, too.


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## Pumper_Sue (Feb 20, 2015)

This is on the BBC web site this morning  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31537381


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## Northerner (Feb 20, 2015)

Pumper_Sue said:


> This is on the BBC web site this morning  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31537381



Let's hope they can put enough pressure on to reverse these unfair penalties. I hate the 'statement' they have put out that it is the patient's responsibility to make sure their card is up to date. There must be so many people who were totally unaware they needed one, if they were diagnosed before they brought them in and were never told. They certainly didn't publicise the crackdown very well.


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## Pumper_Sue (Feb 20, 2015)

I'm probably not going to be favour for saying this

People sign to say they have an exemption certificate, so it's down to them really isn't it?
I was diagnosed in 1965 and have always known about needing an exemption certificate.


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## DeusXM (Feb 20, 2015)

My issue is the idea that you need to renew the certificate, just in case your chronic incurable condition magically goes away yet mysteriously you still need to pick up insulin and test strips.


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## Copepod (Feb 20, 2015)

If you have your card, which is what you're placing the X in the box to say you have, then you can check the expiry date. It's like EHIC cards, that also last 5 years. 

However, while there are campaigns to remind people to renew their EHIC cards, until these past few weeks, I've never seen anything to rimind people to renew their Medical Exemption Certificates.

And while people with type 1 diabetes continue to need insulin etc for the rest of their lives [unless they get a pancreas transplant], several people with type 2 diabetes on these boards have been able to give up medications for diabetes, which means they lose their right to free prescriptions.


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## Northerner (Feb 20, 2015)

DeusXM said:


> My issue is the idea that you need to renew the certificate, just in case your chronic incurable condition magically goes away yet mysteriously you still need to pick up insulin and test strips.



The problem is that the form just says 'diabetes mellitus', so you could be a Type 2 that has come off all medication for diabetes. But I agree, if you have a condition that is always going to need medication, then you should be exempt for as long as exemptions exist. 

Anyway, something like 90% of prescriptions are free, and Northern Ireland, who are thinking of re-introducing charges, estimate that they only contribute 3.5% of the costs of the medication supplied.


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## KookyCat (Feb 21, 2015)

Well I was asked for my exemption card today for the first time ever so someone at boots has clearly taken notice given that most of the time they didn't even get me to sign the prescriptions and I believe now they won't get paid if they're not signed.  She also had to write down that she'd seen it.


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## trophywench (Feb 21, 2015)

They had a purge in the 1980's and always wanted to see them, that's the only time I've ever been asked before or since in the 38 years I was Type 1 before I was 60.

Lasted approx. 6 months.


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## KookyCat (Feb 22, 2015)

I was asked the first time I had a prescription when discharged from hospital and nobody had told me I was entitled to an exemption, so I said I paid which of course I always had and there were 11 items on the prescription (I was rattling at that point), they didn't mention exemption cards or the refund form, nor did they tell me I could have bought some of the items OTC for much less than the prescription charge.  I wasn't allowed to claim that back either.  I only found out about the exemption card when I went for my second prescription and the pharmacy didn't ask for cash (Boots), and the nice lady explained it to me.  That was a relief because I'd already started to panic about how I'd afford it all.  I also wasn't told I didn't have to pay for my eye test, they could do with a standard pack of information about NHS services given to everyone diagnosed.


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## Northerner (Feb 27, 2015)

Hurrah! My card has finally arrived!


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## Northerner (Mar 3, 2015)

*Diabetic hits out at NHS prescription fine*

A diabetic is calling on others to fight a £132 fine being served up by the NHS over repeat prescriptions.

Mark Fowler of Bentinck Terrace Warsop, has regularly picked up free insulin for his type-one diabetes for more than 30 years.

But he was stunned when he was told that despite ticking the medical exemption box on his latest prescription, the NHS said they had no record of him because they say he had failed to renew his exemption certificate.

The 42-year-old, who was diagnosed with type-one diabetes at the age of 12 in 1984, insists he was never told about the renewal, something he has never had to do before.

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/diabetic-hits-out-at-nhs-prescription-fine-1-7136296

I do think it is ridiculous that the procedure isn't to write and inform the person that they need the exemption certificate on the first occasion, and then maybe apply fines for subsequent claims if one hasn't been obtained  At least he managed to get it rejected, which rather suggests they were wrong to impose it on anyone.


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## MacG3 (Mar 4, 2015)

Northy, you are assuming that there is logic in the NHS, oh you poor misguided fool (jokingly!) 

Basically the NHSBSA manages both perscriptions and the exemption card processes. Now some polyester trouser wearing jobsworth, probably with a media studies degree from a 'new' university, has had a wonderful idea that by matching the NHS ID (or rather finding non matches) from both systems they can detect fraud. 

There is no logic in this, and the ten percent checking figure is set because that is all they can process without taking on more staff. What is really annoying is that in their other services they pull out diabetes medication for reporting. So they know who 'should' be exempt even if they don't have a card, by what is in the perscription. 

They just don't have the gumption to do a three table database join, rather than a two table join. 

Hopefully, by spotting this early, we at diabetes support.co.uk have saved some of our regulars the pain and stress of having to deal with NHSBSA.


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## DeusXM (Mar 4, 2015)

My card came yesterday too!

I was amused(ish) by the covering note explaining that if the holder dies, the card should be returned to avoid a reminder letter being sent out.

Given the overwhelming majority of people in Britain will likely end up having some sort of doctor or hospital involvement at their point of expiry, you'd have thought the one organisation based in Britain that'd be best equipped to know whether you're dead or alive would have been the NHS. But apparently not...


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## Northerner (Mar 4, 2015)

DeusXM said:


> ...I was amused(ish) by the covering note explaining that if the holder dies, the card should be returned to avoid a reminder letter being sent out.



What reminder letter would that be then?  Glad I've got mine - I have been going through my rubbish trying to find old insulin cartridges with a bit left in them, now I can finally get a new supply!


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## Pumper_Sue (Mar 4, 2015)

DeusXM said:


> My card came yesterday too!
> 
> I was amused(ish) by the covering note explaining that if the holder dies, the card should be returned to avoid a reminder letter being sent out.
> 
> Given the overwhelming majority of people in Britain will likely end up having some sort of doctor or hospital involvement at their point of expiry, you'd have thought the one organisation based in Britain that'd be best equipped to know whether you're dead or alive would have been the NHS. But apparently not...



Dream on in that respect, a letter arrived for a hospital apt for my dad. It was addressed to Dear deceased.  Dad died last year so at least they had his status correct if nothing else.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Mar 4, 2015)

We took our newborn daughter to casualty with dislocated elbow. They checked the address and asked uncertainly if she was my (deceased) grandmother. No, we said, she just has the same name. 

Please put brain in gear before engaging mouth.


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## Annette (Mar 4, 2015)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> We took our newborn daughter to casualty with dislocated elbow. They checked the address and asked uncertainly if she was my (deceased) grandmother. No, we said, she just has the same name.
> 
> Please put brain in gear before engaging mouth.



When I had to take my OH to the hospital a few years ago, we gave them his full name and birthdate so they could bring up his NHS record. They asked if he'd recently moved down here. No, we said, we'd been living here for several years. Oh, we've got you here as living in Liverpool. Lightbulb moment - Just check you have the right record? Yes, initial and birthdate match. Check name please? Oh, it says Mark. (Hubby is Mike.) You have his twin's record open in front of you. Oh, really...?


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## Northerner (Mar 4, 2015)

Oh dear! Hurry up with that cure so I don't have to deal with any of these people, please!


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## Copepod (Mar 4, 2015)

DeusXM said:


> My card came yesterday too!
> 
> I was amused(ish) by the covering note explaining that if the holder dies, the card should be returned to avoid a reminder letter being sent out.
> 
> Given the overwhelming majority of people in Britain will likely end up having some sort of doctor or hospital involvement at their point of expiry, you'd have thought the one organisation based in Britain that'd be best equipped to know whether you're dead or alive would have been the NHS. But apparently not...



To be fair, data matching does happen, but not always within days or weeks. So, asking relatives to return a deceased person's card could mean that a reminder isn't sent out during the particularly painful period soon after death.

The NHS doesn't have overall responsible to register deaths - Registry Offices have that responsibility, along with births and marriages, informed by relatives.


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## Highlander (Mar 5, 2015)

Prescriptions are free in Scotland, so no exemption card required!


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## Northerner (Mar 5, 2015)

Highlander said:


> Prescriptions are free in Scotland, so no exemption card required!



I don't know why they aren't free here either - apparently 90% of people don't have to pay anyway, and they could do away with a lot of the bureaucracy, I'm sure!


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## Vanster (Nov 4, 2018)

This is just happening to me. Explained in thread “prescription fines” only I had one fine got a new exemption certificate paid the £8.80. Annoyed but thought it’s all over but now I’ve been sent another fine from an earlier script. Help has anyone resolved this or am I going to keep getting fines for the last 16 years


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## Northerner (Nov 4, 2018)

Vanster said:


> This is just happening to me. Explained in thread “prescription fines” only I had one fine got a new exemption certificate paid the £8.80. Annoyed but thought it’s all over but now I’ve been sent another fine from an earlier script. Help has anyone resolved this or am I going to keep getting fines for the last 16 years


Hi Vanster, I would get in contact with the Diabetes UK Helpline when they open tomorrow, hopefully they will be able to advise you:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline

As far as I'm aware you shouldn't need to be paying for any of them


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