A LONG-TERM epilepsy sufferer has warned others after wrongly being lumbered with more than £200 of fines and prescription charges from an NHS fraud office.

Banbury resident Jenna Morris has been exempt from prescription charges since she was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2003.

But she was shocked when she received letters from the NHS Business Services Authority – the body that investigates prescription exemptions – telling her that she would be forced to pay and be fined for prescriptions she got in October and November last year.

Mrs Morris would have to pay a maximum of £966 for her yearly prescriptions, if she did not have either a pre-payment card or payment exemption.

Mrs Morris, who has a daughter and two stepchildren, said: “I received these letters from the NHS in February telling me I would be fined for not paying for my prescription. But I’ve never had to pay for my prescriptions. It was a big shock.”

The NHS Business Services Authority said she would have to pay £230 for prescriptions over the October and November period, made up of £180 in fines and £50 in prescription charges.

After weeks of phone and letter exchanges the matter was resolved and the fines were dropped in March once the NHS Business Service Authority admitted that Mrs Morris was exempt from paying for prescriptions. Mrs Morris, who has to take 10 different medications a month, said: “It’s caused an incredible amount of stress. I felt like I was being accused of breaking the law. I would never try to defraud the NHS.

“I’ve had three epileptic seizures since all of this kicked off. I’ve never been seizure-free but I know that some of those have been caused by the stress.”

Mrs Morris was fined and charged for her prescriptions after local health authorities employed the NHS Business Services Authority to investigate people claiming payment exemptions on their prescription forms in September.

Spokeswoman for NHS Business Services Authority Carrie Cosgrove said: “If we can’t find a record of a valid medical exemption certificate that matches the patient we write to the patient asking them to either contact us to provide confirmation of their entitlement, or pay the outstanding prescription charges and a penalty charge in relation to making an incorrect declaration.”

She added that the organisation did not comment on individual circumstances but said that the matter was now resolved.

According to the authority it is the responsibility of the patient to fill in a medical exemption form. Patients should also be made aware of their exemption forms becoming invalid at least four weeks before expiration.