FOI-01167

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

‘I would like to make a FOI request for the following information:  


1 - You claim in a recent letter to Dr Ben Spencer MP that NHS Business Services Authority have ongoing advertising campaigns to help raise awareness of maternity exemption certificates. Please send through:  

a) the budget in the last financial year spent on this campaign. 

b) the marketing collateral, communications and any other literature that is used in this campaign.  

c) the tactics/channels used to promote awareness. Can you please confirm where your marketing material is distributed? Can you please confirm that this marketing material is distributed to midwives, GPs and maternity units?  

2 - Can you please confirm how many NHS users received PCNs notices for not having a valid maternity exemption certificate despite providing proof they were pregnant.  

3 - Can you please confirm how many NHS users received PCN notices for not having a valid maternity exemption certificate.  

4 - Can you please confirm the salary of Michael Brodie including any bonuses in the past year. 

[On 20 May 2023 you clarified your request as follows] 

From 2022 - current.’ 

Your request was received on 12 May 2023 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

##Response 

##Question 1 a)

The total spend on ‘advertising campaigns to help raise awareness of NHS maternity exemption certificates during financial year 2022/23 was a total of £5,551.  

##Question 1 b) 

Patients are directed to information about the NHS maternity exemption certificate on our website at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/matex 

Healthcare professionals are directed to information on our website at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/digitalmatex 

NHS maternity exemption certificate marketing collateral for third parties to use is available online at https://media.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/resources/f/maternity-exemption-certificates 

Social media assets for third parties to use are available online at https://media.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/resources/f/help-with-health-costs-social-media in folders titled ‘NHS maternity exemption certificates – patient facing’ and ‘NHS maternity exemption certificates – healthcare professionals’ 

Maternity exemption certificates are promoted through the NHSBSA owned NHS Help with Health Costs Facebook and twitter pages: https://www.facebook.com/NHSBSAHelpWithHealthCosts/?locale=en_GB and https://twitter.com/NHShealthcosts   

Paid social media adverts aimed at patients and healthcare professionals - content available online at https://media.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/resources/f/help-with-health-costs-social-media 

A5 advert designed for Bounty’s Baby Guide (Image 1) 

Event collateral, which includes a roller banner (Image 2), leaflet (Image 3) and *video (shared separately) 

*Unfortunately, this disclosure log does not currently support the file type which the requested information has been provided in. If you wish to request the information which was disclosed in response, please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk quoting the above reference number. 

Hints and Tips Dispensing Contractors Issue 49 ‘Exemption Certificates’ and Issue 51 ‘Patients claiming free NHS prescriptions’ 

Content for Maternity and Midwifery Forum mailout (Image 4) 

##Question 1 c) 

We promote NHS maternity exemption certificates to midwives and other relevant healthcare professionals, as well as to pregnant women and new mums. We also promote NHS maternity exemption certificates as part of our regular promotion of exemption checking and how to get help with health costs to healthcare professionals, including midwives, GPs, dental teams and pharmacy teams and charities. 

Promotion is mainly digital however we have restarted face to face promotion which was paused during the pandemic. 

Promotion of the scheme is mainly carried out at a national level. Some activity is delivered regionally with the support of our regional partnership leads, where relevant. 

Most activity is no-cost. 

NHS maternity exemption certificate specific promotion: 

Website content 

Information on third party websites including nhs.uk  

Social media, organic and paid advertising 

Paid advertising with relevant outlets 

Articles in NHSBSA owned bulletins (Hints and Tips) 

Articles in third party bulletins (through NHS England) 

Attendance at online events with Maternity Voices Partnerships (May and March 2022) 

Exhibited at Maternity & Midwifery Forum (MMF) festivals 

London Maternity and Midwifery Festival in London in January 2022  

London Maternity and Midwifery Festival in London in February 2023 

Midlands 2023 Maternity and Midwifery Festival in Leicester in May 2023 

Northern 2023 Maternity and Midwifery Festival in Manchester in July 2023 

Third party mailout through the Maternity and Midwifery Forum 

Media articles 

Stakeholder engagement with relevant organisations, including the Royal College of Midwives 

##Question 2 

We do not hold this information, when a prescription is received which has been signed as the patient being exempt from prescription charges a data matching exercise is instigated. The process simply checks for any exemption held for the patient and if nothing is found a letter will be issued. 

##Question 3 

62,961 PCNs issued with an exemption category of NHS maternity exemption certificate claimed. 

##Question 4 

The current annual salary is £176,851 & there has been no bonus payments made. 

##Data Queries 

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact nhsbsa.foirequests@nhs.net 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 nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. 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 2022” 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. 

Tags: Maternity exemption, Matex
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log