From Mr P. E. Carter, MRPharmS
SIR,-A recent article indicated that the Welsh may allow free National Health Service prescriptions to all under the age of 25 years (PJ, October 28, p641). I hope they are successful and that this ruling will spread to England. My staff and I waste much time explaining to many students that they have to pay prescription charges and then try to claim the money back; we supply NHS receipts along with form HC1. This also frustrates other patients and customers who are waiting to be served. In my experience, almost all students are successful at claiming free NHS prescriptions. An HC1 is a thick book type of form which must take hours to analyse by the government, which states that each student must be individually assessed. If students were automatically offered free NHS prescriptions, thousands of pounds could be saved by significantly reducing the number of civil servants analysing HC1s, ie, treating the Government to their own medicine of greater efficiency by increased redundancies.
Peter Carter
Newcastle upon Tyne