The auditor general for Wales has estimated that prescription charge fraud by patients in Wales costs the National Health Service £15m a year. Detailed analysis of 2,000 prescription forms dispensed in September, 1999, revealed that there was no entitlement to charge exemption in 9 per cent of cases where exemption was claimed. Two per cent of age-related claims were found to be invalid, as were 18 per cent of health authority certificate related claims, 30 per cent of benefits related claims and 21 per cent of other claims. A report by the auditor general concludes that community pharmacists are not carrying out point of dispensing checks as carefully or consistently as required by their NHS terms of service.