Lord Winstanleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
(i) what is their present estimate of the cost of providing: (a) disposable hypodermic needles and (b) disposable syringes on Form FP 10 for patients suffering from diabetes, and; (ii) what allowances they have made in this estimate for the present cost of glass and metal syringes which are now prescribed for diabetic patients.
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Trefgarne)The estimated annual additional cost of providing disposable (single-use) hypodermic equipment on FP 10 for all insulin-dependent diabetic patients in England is over £3½ million for needles and nearly £6 million for syringes. These estimates take account of potential savings on the glass and metal syringes, re-usable needles and carrying cases for hypodermic equipment which are now prescribed for diabetic patients at a total annual cost of about £0.75 million a year.
Single-use needles and syringes offer little advantage, other than convenience, over the re-usable kind when used by a patient following good hygienic practice, and I do not think that we should be justified in diverting from other NHS priorities the additional expenditure which would be entailed in making them generally available. If single-use needles and syringes are considered medically essential for a particular patient, they may be supplied through the hospital service.