§ Sir John HannamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people during the year 1991–92(a) qualified for free prescriptions on the grounds of 665W prescribed illnesses or conditions and (b) are estimated to have failed to take up an exemption certificate on this ground during this period.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe information is not available in the form requested. Prescription charge exemption certificates for people with a specified medical condition are valid for a period of five years. In the six months from January to June 1992, the latest period for which figures are held centrally, family health services authorities issued over 40,000 such certificates. The average number issued in each of the three years from 1989 to 1991 was about 75,000. In 1991–92 community pharmacists and appliance contractors dispensed some 24.7 million prescribed items free of charge to people holding these certificates and to expectant or nursing mothers. It is not possible to estimate the number who have failed to take up an exemption certificate.