§ Mr. Arbuthnotasked the Minister of Health if he will break down the cost of the pharmaceutical services paid for by the National Health Service in the year ended 31st March, 1959, to the nearest £10,000, under the following heads: dispensing fees and payments to chemists, allowance to chemists for containers, chemists' overheads and profits, purchase tax, wholesalers' margins, appliances and dressings, payments to dispensing doctors, standard drugs, and ethical proprietary drugs.
§ Mr. PowellThe available information for England and Wales is as follows:
£ Payments to dispensing doctors for services and for drugs, appliances and dressings supplied 2,300,000 Payments to chemists and appliance contractors in respect of: — (a) Dispensing fees and rota services 12,750,000 (b) Oncost allowances 10,430,000 (c) Allowances for containers 1,370,000 (d) Cost of appliances and dressings 2,080,000 (e) Cost of prescriptions specifying drugs by standard names 9,180,000 (f) Cost of prescriptions specifying drugs by proprietary names 30,450,000 68,560,000 Notes
1. Payments to chemists at (a) and (b) above together constitute payments for overheads, professional services and profits.
2. The total of payments at (d), (e) and (f) includes an estimated sum of £630,000 in respect of purchase tax.
3. Wholesalers' margins are estimated to account for between £5½ million, and £6½ million of the total of the payments at (d), (e) and (f); a more precise estimate cannot be made.
4. It is not possible for 1958–59 to state what part of the payment at (e) relates to prescriptions dispensed in proprietary form.