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Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Question for Department of Health and Social Care

UIN 22115, tabled on 6 January 2025

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been fined for accessing prescriptions without a valid Maternity Exception Certificate.

Answered on

9 January 2025

There are no plans to revise the application process for maternity exemption certificates that provide entitlement to free National Health Service prescriptions. The NHS Business Services Authority has advised that in 2024, 48,063 Penalty Charge Notices were issued to those who indicated they held a valid maternity exemption certificate that could not be validated.