Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘A copy of any policy, contractual document, or statutory guidance NHSBSA relies upon to justify imposing penalties where no patient-signed declaration exists.’

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

The NHSBSA is responsible for verifying claims for free NHS prescriptions and dental treatment, and for recovering costs from patients who are found to have claimed exemption in error.

NHS Penalty Charge Notices are issued in accordance with National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/2794/contents/made

and the National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Wales Regulations 2001:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2001/1300/contents/made

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

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 2025”. 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.