Roger is calling on the Government to take action to stop sales representatives from operating on NHS maternity wards, and has roundly condemned the commercialisation of NHS maternity wards and the invasion of families' privacy. He has also written to NHS trusts in Birmingham, asking them to review contracts with Bounty to protect the privacy of their patients.
At the moment, the Government permit private companies to use the public health service to target marketing at new mothers. He is particularly concerned that Bounty, a private company, is paying the NHS for access to wards and then selling on the data it has obtained. Roger believes that it is unacceptable for new mothers to be taken advantage of in this way.
He has heard from his constituents who work for the NHS in Birmingham that their patients' privacy has been violated by Bounty sales staff during their stay in hospital, causing them distress at a crucial time.
Roger has signed Early Day Motion 319, which calls on the Government to ensure that sales representatives are not allowed on to maternity wards, and that materials given to new parents by the NHS are not adverts in disguise. He has also tabled a question to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, asking if the rules governing data protection have been contravened.
“To ask the Secretary of State of Health if supplying personal contact data on new mothers on hospital wards to a private company such as Bounty contravenes the data protection act and should be referred to the Information Commissioner”.

This article appeared in the August edition of Roger's newsletter 'Postcard from Parliament'