Request

I am investigating the figures around maternity exemption certificate penalties, fines and charges. If I could please have the following figures, I'd be very grateful

1. How many penalty letters were sent to expectant or post-partum mothers regarding collecting prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2022- January 1 2023?

2. How many penalty letters were sent to expectant or post-partum mothers regarding collecting prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2023- January 1 2024?

3. How much money does each penalty letter sent to expectant or post-partum mother regarding collection prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate cost the NHS to send?

4. How much money was collected in fines relating to pregnant women or new mothers obtaining prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2022-January 1 2023?

5. How much money was collected in fines relating to pregnant women or new mothers obtaining prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2023-January 1 2024?

6. How much money was collected in charges relating to pregnant women or new mothers obtaining prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2022-January 1 2023?

7. How much money was collected in charges relating to pregnant women or new mothers obtaining prescriptions without a maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2023-January 1 2024?

8. How many women received multiple penalty charge letters relating to not holding a valid maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2022- January 1 2023?

9. How many women received multiple penalty charge letters relating to not holding a valid maternity exemption certificate from January 1 2023- January 1 2024?

On the 22 January 2024 you clarified the following:

To clarify, I'd really like to know separately the postage cost and the print cost.

Response

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority.

We are unable to find out how many Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were sent to specifically pregnant women or new mothers. We only know for certain that a patient is/was a pregnant women or new mother when they have/had a valid maternity exemption certificate (MATEX) at the time the prescription was collected.

The below data is referring to PCNs where the MATEX exemption category had been ticked. 

Question 1 – 28,827

Question 2 – 74,407

Question 3 – Print £0.08, Post £0.44

Please note: We don't hold information on the exact cost for a MATEX PCN due to the way the invoicing works, but we can provide an estimated cost based on 23/24 prices. In the request we have defined fines as PCNs, surcharges, and charges as prescription charges. These are not classed as fines, i.e. they aren’t a criminal sanction.

Question 4 – £165,500.45

Question 5 – £784,968.73

Question 6 – £145,217.74

Question 7 – £495,574.21

Question 8 – 2,705

Question 9 – 11,738

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data, please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2024” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.