HC Deb 23 March 1989 vol 149 c765W
Mr. McLoughlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the most recent figures for the cost to the National Health Service of coronary heart disease including(a) the cost of general practitioner prescriptions, (b) the cost of surgery and (c) the cost of hospital beds.

Mr. Freeman

Cost estimates are not available in the exact form requested. However, the following may be of interest:

  1. (a) The net ingredient cost of pharmaceutical products having an effect on the cardiovascular system, and diuretics, dispensed by retail pharmacists in the Family Practitioner Service in England in 1987 was £360 million.
  2. (b) Information on the cost of hospital beds is not collected separately from treatment costs. It is estimated that the total cost of hospital in-patient treatment related to coronary heart disease in England a year is £175.5 milion. (1987–88 prices).