§ 20. Mr. Skinnardasked the Minister of Health what proportion of medicines prescribed under the National Health Service is dispensed by doctors; and how payment for the drugs is made in such cases.
§ Mr. BevanNo precise information is available, but the estimated proportion supplied by doctors under Part IV of the National Health Service Act is one-tenth. The reply to the second part of the Question is long, and I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ Doctors giving general medical service and maternity medical service supply medicine to their patients in the following circumstances, and it is paid for in the following ways:
- 1. Prescribing doctors are required to supply drugs and appliances needed for immediate administration or before a supply can be obtained from a chemist. For this they receive payment at the rate of 2s. 6d. per hundred patients on their list, with additional payment for expensive drugs in a Special List.
- 2. Prescribing doctors may themselves supply any drug normally administered by a doctor in person, e.g., on injection. For this they are paid the value of the drug plus a fee.
- 3. In country districts where no chemist is readily available, doctors may be required to supply all drugs and appliances needed for the treatment of their patients. For this they may be paid in two ways:—
- (a) at the rate of 6s. 6d. per dispensing patient with additional payment for expensive drugs in a Special List, or
- (b) on the basis of the Drug Tariff for all drugs and appliances actually supplied.