Written question asked by Patsy Calton (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 2 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 March 2004. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 March 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the potential for fraud in the use of electronic transmission of prescriptions.

Answer: Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the potential for fraud in the use of electronic transmission of prescriptions. [159107] Ms Rosie Winterton: Three pilot projects on the electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) ran from mid-2002 to mid-2003 and were independently evaluated by the Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics at the University of Newcastle. An essential part of this was a full security analysis to assess potential risks and threats, including fraud, and ensuring appropriate countermeasures were put in place. ETP is now being taken forward as part of the national programme for information technology. The lessons learned on fraud prevention from the earlier pilots are being incorporated into the design of the national model for ETP. The NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) is fully involved in the development of the ETP project and will continue to work to ensure that opportunities for fraud are minimised.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 419 c392-3W;419 c394-5W; 159107
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Fraud ICT Pilot schemes Prescriptions Electronic data transmission
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk