§ Mr. Robert HicksTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population is exempt from prescription charges; what proportion of prescriptions dispensed are for those exempt from payment; and what is the average cost of prescription dispensed.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIt is estimated that 47.7 per cent. of the population are currently exempt from prescription charges. Nearly 80 per cent. of all NHS prescriptions are dispensed without charge. The average cost of a prescription item to the NHS in 1990, the latest year for which information is available, was £6.66.