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Almost 8,500 exemptions were digitally checked in four pharmacies over a two-month period, as part of an NHS pilot to crack down on prescription fraud.

The real-time exemption checking (RTEC) system – which is currently being used in four pharmacies in Manchester, Oldham, Leeds and Cleethorpes – allows pharmacists to digitally check whether a patient is exempt from prescription charges, before medication is dispensed.

The four pharmacies piloted the system over a two-month period between February 26 and April 30, digitally checking for five exemption categories: maternity, medical, pre-payment certificate, HC2 (NHS low income scheme) and NHS tax credit.

After an automatic check against NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) data during the prescription process, the RTEC system returns either an “exempt” or “unknown” status – never “not exempt”, the NHS BSA explained.

For those “unknown” exemptions, pharmacies have to use standard checking processes and tick the “exemption not seen” box. For those that are digitally exempt, the patient no longer needs to sign the prescription.

Of the 8,495 exemptions checked during the pilot, 3,762 were found to be exempt, while 4,733 returned “unknown” statuses.

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