FRAUDSTERS who cheat the taxpayer by claiming free prescriptions are a bitter pill to swallow for East Lancashire pharmacists.

Chemists today welcomed a major crackdown on the prescription fraud racket in the NHS which costs the NHS £16 million a year in the North West.

The tough new measures may include a new criminal offence of evading payment of the prescription charge. Pharmacists may also be rewarded for detecting stolen or counterfeit prescription forms.

Simon Haworth, local spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, said the onus should not be on pharmacists to query forms. He said pharmacists often had their suspicions that people claiming free prescriptions were not exempt from payment.

He said the fraudsters were making it more expensive for those who had to pay.

Mr Haworth said pharmacists could only guess as to whether a person was on income support or family credit and said there should be a central database where they could check if people were exempt.

John Haworth, fraud liaison officer for East Lancashire Health Authority, said prescription fraud was costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds a year in the district.

He said: "We do not have specific figures locally, but the Prescription Pricing Authority's Fraud Investigation Unit will be offering greater support to health authorities in identifying areas of potential fraud.

"Our intention is to work more closely with the fraud investigation unit."

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