Families are still locked out of the government's Healthy Start food voucher scheme, more than a month after it confirmed all technical issues had been fixed.
Campaigners said ongoing technical failures with the scheme had led to parents feeling "embarrassed and confused", after The Mirror revealed parents were being turned down in supermarkets.
The NHS Healthy Start scheme allows low-income parents to claim up to £8.50 a week towards the cost of essential foods such as fruit and veg.
Earlier this year it switched from paper vouchers to digital payments via MasterCard, but parents were told they needed to reapply to continue receiving the support.
However, after doing so, many were told they were ineligible for the scheme. Others were sent vouchers that simply did not work at the checkouts.
Have you had issues with the Healthy Start scheme? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
The Government said the glitch linked to the switch from paper coupons to card payments had been fixed and payments would be backdated.
But issues appear to be ongoing.
Sam Watts of the Winchester Food Partnership said the technical issues were proving a "huge problem".
"It's only through community groups that we got the briefing that there was a glitch, so we are trying to go back to families and say 'please reapply'.
"These new cards can't be used for part-payment... that's causing real embarrassment and confusion at the tills - and you can't use them for online shops."
Orla Delargy of anti-poverty charity Sustain said the issues with the digital scheme were "shocking".
"We know that with increasing energy and food prices, more people are being tipped into poverty and its really key that they get these benefits they are entitled to," she added.
The Department of Health and Social Care said the technical problem had been fixed and announced it was backdating the payments last week.
It said 330,000 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were currently benefiting from the scheme and insisted there was a "comprehensive communications plan in place" to encourage anyone rejected to reapply.
"People who qualified for paper vouchers have been sent four invitation letters via post or email to transition to the digital scheme, and the NHS Business Services Authority is advertising via leaflets, texts and social media."
Back in March, the Healthy Start Facebook page had been flooded with complaints from parents saying their cards were being declined in supermarkets and their applications rejected.
The deadline to switch from paper vouchers to the new card system was March 10.
Georgia King, 24, told us she stopped getting paper vouchers in October last year and was eventually issued a new card, which the Department for Health said was registered and activated and ready to use.
“But it failed to work in the supermarket,” she told The Mirror.
Ms King, who has dyslexia and dyscalculia, has since struggled to get through to the Department on the phone.
Her mum, Toria Hodgkiss, emailed the government on her behalf, but months later, her card is still not working.
“Currently Georgia and my grandson live with me. I am a single parent with an 11-year-old daughter who lost her dad last year. I am trying my best to support Georgia. She works 15 hours a week as a hairdresser and gets Universal Credit, but costs are high and we’re trying our best to stay on top of it all."
Stay at home mum, Sarah Cushing, 24, received £8.50 a week for her two kids under the paper system. She claims Universal Credit.
“I had a letter back in December mentioning that it's going to card from paper and that I would have to reapply to change over," she said.
“As soon as I got that letter I followed the guidance and reapplied – but was then told my application had been unsuccessful.
“I tried three more times and got the same result. I rang the Department and was told that I'm still entitled so I shouldn't have a problem. The asked me to send proof of what benefits and income I get, and said they would update their systems and sort it out.
“But it didn’t work. When I contacted them again I got no response.
“I was lucky that the paper vouchers was still running to this month so I managed but it did add to my anxiety and had me thinking about what I was going to do.”
A large coalition of charities, led by Sustain and The Food Foundation, and including Royal College of Midwives and Royal Society of Public Health, wrote to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid urging him to extend the paper vouchers while issues are resolved.
Sustain campaigner Sofia Parente said: “Every year millions of pounds of Healthy Start vouchers go unclaimed and families miss out on free fruit, vegetables and milk.
“We welcomed the digitisation of the service as it was supposed to make it easier to apply and use, as well as reduce stigma. But the opposite has happened.
“Eligible families are being rejected, cards are failing at tills and calls to the helpline go unanswered. The Government needs to extend the paper vouchers until the digital scheme is working, otherwise families exposed to increasing food prices will miss out”
Zoe McIntyre, of Children’s Right2Food, The Food Foundation said: “There is no doubt that digitisation of Healthy Start can bring many benefits, but it must be done well, and with a clear understanding of the circumstances of those it is targeting.
“So many organisations, retailers, and individuals – including Marcus Rashford – have made huge efforts to tackle the issue of low uptake of this Government scheme to make sure low-income young families struggling to afford a healthy diet can get the support they need.
“So it’s really heart-breaking to hear how many families have been hindered by the digital switchover, rather than helped by it. At this challenging time of rising food prices, rising cost of living, Government really needs to remedy these issues immediately.”
