From Mr V. C. Patel, MRPharmS
SIR,—Let me air my experience regarding prescription fraud reporting and reward claiming (PJ, November 25, p789). I was presented with a stolen prescription and, as was my duty (and at risk to my staff), I called the police and the man was arrested. The next day, the police informed me that, because the man had "returned" a number of blank prescription forms (about 500), they had let him go. I still wrote to the health authority to request the forms to report the incident and -why not? -claim the reward for my help in catching this man and saving the National Health Service thousands of pounds.
A few weeks passed and there was no reply. I wrote again. Again, no reply. So I rang the primary care agency, which referred me to the Prescription Pricing Authority. The PPA referred me to the fraud unit, which told me that the time limit was past for me to claim any reward and that the police had already informed the fraud unit of the incident.
We take part in any fraud prevention scheme on a voluntary basis. From what I have read and from my own experience, I can only conclude that the systems in place are not adequate.
V. Patel Tadworth, Surrey