A WOMAN recovering from breast cancer is concerned the NHS is allowing foreign drugs to be dispensed which are labelled in Spanish.

Liz Noble was worried on picking up her prescription from Safeway pharmacy in Chester last week to discover her tablets were labelled for each day she must take them, but in Spanish not English.

Staff offered the explanation that the government paid such low prices for its drugs that they only way to make a profit was to buy 'parallel imports' which were exactly the same quality and they applied tiny stickers on the packaging with the English version.

However, the government says while the procedure is acceptable, it is down to the supplier if they choose to buy cheaper foreign imports.

Mrs Noble, of Whitby Avenue, Upton, Chester, had an operation just over a year ago and has undergone six months chemotherapy and six weeks of radio therapy. She is now on the road to recovery but concerned about the possible confusion which could be caused by tablets like the ones she was prescribed.

She said: 'I think we pay enough for the NHS so surely we should be able to have our tablets in English if nothing else. If they are bringing them in from Spain they should be made to do it in English. I'm sure the Spanish would not like it if English tablets were going over there. There is a lot of people who have not got a clue what day of the week it is and they are on tablets. This is likely to just add to the confusion.'

Mrs Noble, 51, who is married to Stephen, a Chester Town Hall keeper, must take her Arimidex tablets every day for the next five years but is in remission and feeling a lot better. She hopes to return to her job at MBNA in three or four months

She added: 'The pharmacist put sticky labels on for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on. I'm fine. I can probably manage but if I was an old person, and if the label came off, it could be a bit dodgy.

'Safeway said there's nothing they can do.

Their hands are tied. Apparently a lot are coming in from Portugal.'

Safeway spokeswoman Kate Prescott said: 'The procedure of the 'parallel importing' of medicines produced outside of the UK is a common procedure across community pharmacy in this country.

'It may occur on occasions when an equivalent drug is available as an import.

'Such medicines, which are dispensed to customers, are always re-labelled in English, to meet regulations as agreed by the importer and to comply with all European and UK requirements.

'Safeway wishes to assure its customers that these medicines are of the highest quality and meet all pharmaceutical regulations.'

The Department of Health rubbished the view that drug suppliers were forced to buy drugs from abroad because the NHS would not pay high enough prices.

Spokeswoman Alison Langley said drug prices were comparatively cheaper in countries like Spain and Greece compared with the UK and suppliers made more profit by importing the medicines and re-labelling them, which was an acceptable practice under EU regulations.