PRESCRIPTION charges are a little like car tax – it’s just one of those things in life that you begrudge handing over your hard-earned money for.

In the case of taxing your car, it’s probably because you pay something like £120 and all you get is a little paper disc – and it only lasts a year.

With a prescription, however, you are getting a drug or medicine for you or a loved one. So why is there a nagging resentment in the back of our minds when we hand over our £7.40?

For some, the resentment reaches such a level that they decide they do not want to pay and so try to pass themselves of as one of those who are exempt, such as pregnant women or cancer patients.

Today will see the launch in our region of a crackdown on people who try to fraudulently get out of paying for their medication.

Latest figures from NHS Protect (the national NHS counter fraud service) show the value of fraud and unlawful action against the health service in 2009/10 was over £10 million.

In the same year there were 150 successful prosecutions nationwide with potential savings from completed investigations totalling over £4 million.

Between 2006 and 2011, counter- fraud officers in North Yorkshire and York conducted over 7,500 exemption checks, issued 1,100 penalties and recovered over £18,000 from people wrongly claiming exemptions from NHS charges.

Adrian Snarr, director of finance and contracting at NHS North Yorkshire and York, said: “Defrauding the NHS is a very serious matter. It deprives services of money that could otherwise be spent on staff, equipment and resources and it costs the taxpayer millions of pounds a year.

“By pursuing false claimants we hope we are sending a clear message to fraudsters and providing a deterrent.

“We also want to appeal to law abiding tax payers to report any concerns they may have to the NHS counter-fraud specialists. This can be done in complete confidence and ultimately helps us to reduce a severe drain on our health system.”

According to the NHS, Primary care trusts have the power to recover unpaid fees and apply a penalty charge of £100 to patients who wrongly claim exemption from the prescription charge, as well as other means-tested charges such as those made by opticians and dentists.

The penalty for those who consistently try to beat the system can be severe. Anyone failing to pay the penalty or who repeatedly offends can be prosecuted in a Magistrates’ Court and could be fined up to £2,500.

The clampdown beginning today will see officers starting a new wave of spot checks on prescriptions redeemed at pharmacies and GP practices across North Yorkshire and York. The money recovered goes back to the relevant local health budget. The penalty charge goes into the PCT’s funds and is then spent on improving patient care.

A spokesman for the investigation team at NHS Protect said the fraud attempts usually took place at the pharmacy counter when people were asked to pay. They may claim to be exempt and checking customers by the staff is not mandatory.

He said: “The economic climate we are in at the moment means there are no stereotypes as to who will try get away without paying."

He explained how the spot checks on prescriptions would be carried out by the NHS protect team. "When prescriptions are redeemed they go on to the prescription pricing authority where they are warehoused.

"We identify areas where we might want to do some batch testing. We can look at them in electronic format and see if there has been a reason for exemption for payment."

Prescription charges: the facts

• Those exempt from charges include people aged 60 or over, pregnant women and nursing mothers, and people on a low income who are claiming certain benefits.

• Information on who is exempt from paying prescription charges is available on request from any pharmacy. Patients in doubt should ask for advice. It is also available online at nhs.uk

• From April 2011, NHS Protect took on national responsibility for leading work to protect NHS staff and resources from crime. The organisation tackles crimes against the health service which it says would otherwise undermine the effectiveness and ability of the health service to meet the needs of patients and professionals. It has responsibility for tackling fraud, bribery, violence, corruption, criminal damage, theft and other unlawful action such as market fixing. For more information visit: nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Protect.aspx

• Anyone with a concern about NHS fraud should phone the confidential NHS Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line on (freephone) 0800 028 40 60. You can also report online at reportnhsfraud.nhs.uk or speak to a counter-fraud specialist at your local NHS trust.