§ Lord McColl of Dulwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of Baroness Jay of Paddington's statement of 19 June 1997 (H.L. Deb., Col. 1346) that prescription charges today are 28 times more expensive than they were in 1979, whether they will express prescription charges as a percentage of the total expenditure on the NHS, for each year since 1949, when the principle of a prescription charge was first introduced.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington)Full United Kingdom data on the proportion of National Health Service expenditure net from prescription charges are not readily available for the period prior to 1987–88. The following table shows the proportion for the period 1987–88 to 1995–96, the latest year for which full data are currently available. It also includes an estimate of the proportion in 1953–54, the first full year after the introduction of prescription charges in 1952, and in 1978–79.
Year Income from Prescription Charges as a percentage of NHS Expenditure (UK) 1953–54 1.5 (estimated) 1978–79 0.4 (estimated) 1987–88 0.9 1988–89 0.9 1989–90 0.9 1990–91 0.9 1991–92 0.8 1992–93 0.8 1993–94 0.9 1994–95 0.9 1995–96 0.9