§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the amount collected each year and the current year to date in (a) prescription charges, (b) dental charges and (c) charges for ophthalmic services; what is his estimate for the current financial year and in a full year; and what are the estimated number of treatments made each year at the full rate of charge, and the forecast figures.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergInformation, from 1977–78, for the family practitioner services, in England is as follows:
129W
Income from charges Estimated number of prescripitions dispensed by chemists* where:— Prescription charges Dental charges Opthalmic charges Prescription charges Pre-payment certificate held £ million £ million £ million Million Million 1977–78 23.5 51.2 23.1 110.5 8.1 1978–79 24.4 55.4 25.4 113.5 8.7 1979–80 38.9 69.6 27.5 107.2 10.8 1980–81 71.2 92.4 28.8 88.7 15.6 1981–82 87.2 ‡118.4 ‡32.1 76.4 18.3 1982–83 ║105.0 ║151.0 ║50.0 ║73.0 ║19.0 1 April—30 September 1982 ●50.0 ●67.0 ●19.0 — — Estimated full year effect of charges introduced on 1 April 1982 110.0 160.0 51.0 — —
Number of prescriptions exempt from charges excluding refunds, remissions and pre-payments certificates Estimated number of chargeable courses of dental treatment where patient paid the full charge† Estimated number of chargeable courses of dental treatment where patient was either exempt or refunded charges in full† Estimated number of pairs of glasses supplied where patient paid the full charge Estimated number of pairs of glasses exempt from charges, remitted or refunded Million Million Million Million Million 1977–78 179.2 — [9.9] — [8.84] 3.4 1.0 1978–79 185.6 — [9.6] — [9.11] 3.5 1.1 1979–80 185.7 10.2 [9.9] 8.96 [8.81] 3.7 1.1 1980–81 198.3 10.4 [10.5] 9.26 [9.22] 3.7 1.1 1981–82 205.4 11.1 [10.9] 8.82 [9.04] 3.6 1.2 1982–83 — ¶ — ║4.3 — 1 April—30 September 1982 — — — — — Estimated full year effect of charges introduced on 1 April 1982 — — — — — * Comparable information is not available for prescriptions dispensed by doctors.
† Financial year figures are not readily available before 1979–80. Calendar year figures are shown in brackets—1977–78 = 1977.
‡ Provisional.
║ Forecasts.
¶ Information on chargeable treatments to date in 1982–83 is not available to enable an estimate for the whole year to be made.
● Information on charges received to date in 1982–83 is not available from all family practitioner committees; the figures are therefore estimated from the information available.