NHS mistake hits new mum with penalty in prescriptions case

A new mother is charged by the NHS for prescriptions she needed after giving birth to her daughter. Victoria Davies, 28, like all new mothers, was entitled to free prescriptions during pregnancy and up to her daughter’s first birthday – but claims an NHS midwife failed to complete the certificate maternity exemption which entitled her to these medications.

Victoria was in and out of hospital for three months following the birth of her daughter Daisy in September 2023 after her C-section scar became repeatedly infected. This resulted in several courses of antibiotics being prescribed, in addition to the aspirin prescriptions Victoria received during her pregnancy.

Last month, Victoria received a letter from the NHS Business Authority (NHSBA) informing her that she would be charged for the prescriptions – and receive a penalty – because she did not have a valid maternity exemption certificate .

“Usually a midwife fills out a maternity exemption certificate for you,” said Victoria, a mother of two. “But the midwife had forgotten to fill out a maternity exemption certificate.”

This was the first of two letters Victoria received from the NHSBA informing her that the NHS had discovered multiple non-payments for prescriptions, Victoria said, adding that neither the letters nor the NHSBA telephone agents didn’t tell her how much she owed.

“Why should I pay that?” She says. “When I called them and told them I would send them a copy of my daughter’s birth certificate to prove it, they said it didn’t matter because they couldn’t backdate that by a month. I owe money for something I have the right to do. It’s very disappointing that our NHS has done this.

Victoria described the situation as “sad”, adding that despite her poor health, she returned to work just six weeks after giving birth to help her family of four pay the mortgage.

She said: “Now I’m trying to find ways to work full time to pay this cost, which I assume will be high because of the complications I had with my daughter. You work your whole life, you work very hard, and I feel disappointed and disappointed.”