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HoC Answers - 20.01.12
Uncollected Prescriptions
Jack Lopresti (Conservative, Filton and Bradley Stoke): To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made on the number of uncollected NHS prescriptions in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of uncollected prescriptions in each year; and whether he has any plans to take steps to reduce the number of uncollected NHS prescriptions.
Mr Simon Burns (Minister of State for Health): There is no estimate of the number of prescriptions uncollected in 2010 and 2011. Also, as there is no actual supply of a drug to a patient there is no cost of the drug to the national health service.
Where a patient presents a prescription form to a dispensing contractor for dispensing, the prescription item would then be prepared ready for collection, However, if the patient does not return to collect the item, a dispensing contractor cannot make a claim for reimbursement, as the drug has not been supplied to the patient.
While there are currently no plans to take steps to specifically reduce the number of uncollected prescriptions, pharmacies offer a range of services, which help patients to get the most out of their medicines, ranging from repeat dispensing, to the new medicine service and medicine use review.
Posted 20 January 2012