HC1 Forms (Hansard, 7 June 2000)

§ Mr. Nicholls
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many HC1 forms are incorrectly filled in each year. [122781]

§ Ms Stuart
Where an HC1 claim form provides insufficient information for the calculation of entitlement to remission of National Health Service charges, the Prescription Pricing Authority seeks further information or clarification by telephone wherever possible. For 1999–2000, around 169,000¹ HC1 claim forms had to be returned because the matter could not be resolved in any other way. ¹ These are in respect of GB as figures are not collected separately for England.

§ Mr. Nicholls
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people apply each year for financial help with NHS health costs using an HC1 form. [122782]

§ Ms Stuart
In England for the year 1999–2000, the Prescription Pricing Authority received around 903,000 applications for help with NHS Health costs on an HC1 claim form. The number of people covered by the applications is not collected.