BSA slated for fining disabled person with mental age of two
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- Published: Monday, 25 February 2019 07:42
- Written by News Editor
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The Sunday Times reports that NHS managers have fined a severely disabled teenager £100 and threatened her with debt collectors over a free dental checkup. Aimee Morrow, 19, from Gateshead who has round-the-clock care and a mental age of two, was accused of wrongly claiming a free check-up. She was also warned that she would face a £50 surcharge if the fine was not paid.
John Morrow, 62, Aimee’s father, said: “The whole thing was an absolute farce. I told them I was not going to pay it and they could take us to court. I am just appalled by the levels of incompetence.” He said he tried to explain to officials that his daughter was entitled to free dental care because she is severely disabled and was attending a special school.
The correspondence warned that any debt, including the £20.60 cost of the check-up, could be transferred to the Akinika Debt Recovery firm. Officials eventually agreed to withdraw the fine after Morrow appealed to his daughter’s special school for help. The case is one of more than 1.4m penalty charge notices sent out by the NHS each year to patients it believes have claimed free dental care or prescriptions to which they are not entitled.
New figures published in a parliamentary answer last week revealed that the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) generated record revenues of £37.7m last year from penalty charge notices issued to patients — £13.8m relating to dental treatment and £23.8m for prescriptions. Over the past five years the fines have generated £128m.
Frank Field, the independent MP who obtained the new figures, said that in some cases penalty charges were being sent out because patients had filled in forms incorrectly. He said: “It’s appalling that people are getting into trouble by ticking the wrong box.”
One of the reasons for the many penalty notices sent in error is that until recently there was no tick box on the forms for patients on universal credit to claim free prescriptions or dental care.
The NAO announced an investigation this spring into the NHS penalty charge notices. The Department of Health and Social Care said it would continue to work “to ensure the current system is as fair and proportionate as possible”.
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