§ Mr. Macleanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if it is his policy to prosecute cases of fraud discovered on prescription forms; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what efforts have been made to recover the fraudulent loss of £3,829,000 of prescription forms identified by family practitioner committees; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what steps have been taken to prevent theft from the National Health Service by fraudulent prescription form claims.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe have included the figure of £3.829 million in the "Summarised Accounts for 1982–83 of Health Authorities in England and Wales" (House of Commons Paper No. 399) as a DHSS estimate of the possible extent of incorrect claims in England to prescription charge exemption and to automatic remission of dental and optical charges. Such incorrect claims may be deliberately fraudulent. They may also arise accidentally, for example where an individual's certificate of exemption has expired and he has omitted to renew it.
We base this estimate on checks carried out by family practitioner committees. It would not be in the public interest to disclose details of the checking procedure and the steps taken to recover charges found to be due, but legal action can be taken where FPCs uncover cases of flagrant abuse.
We try to ensure the right balance between the need to protect the taxpayer from fraud and the need to preserve access to service and to avoid unnecessary administrative costs. We do however keep the position under review.