§ Mr. Blenkinsopasked the Minister of Health the number and cost of prescriptions issued and dental treatment provided and appliances issued, for which charges were imposed under the National Health Service Act, 1952, for the months of November and December, 1952, as 11W compared with the figures for the months of November and December, 1951.
PRESCRIPTIONS — Number of prescriptions Average cost per prescription Total cost November, 1951 … 19,034,911 actual 46.02d. £3,649,880 December, 1951 … 17,815,111 46.58d. £3,457,607 November, 1952 … 17,439,000 declared by chemists Not yet available December, 1952 … 20,100,000 These figures include prescriptions for appliances ordered by general practitioners and dispensed by chemists and prescriptions given by hospital out-patient departments and dispensed by chemists. No figures are available to show the number of prescriptions dispensed at hospitals to out-patients.
DENTAL TREATMENT — 1951 1952 November December November December Number of completed courses of dental treatment under normal procedure (other than for the provision of dentures to which the 1952 Act charges do not Apply) [Note 1] 363,000 388,000 414,000 333,000 Number of courses for limited treatment provided under simplified procedure [Note 2] 236,000 201,000 127,000 102,000 Cost to the Exchequer £950,000 £1,000,000 £850,000 £700,000 1. Less than half the courses given were subject to charges under the 1952 Act. The remaining courses were started before 1st June or were for items of treatment to which the charges do not apply or were for the exempted classes of patients. 2. The courses for limited treatment, which consist largely of extractions of one or two teeth, usually cost under f1 and many patients may therefore be assumed to have had the treatment privately. 12W
APPLIANCES Surgical Appliances delivered to Hospitals — 1951 1952 November December November December No. Estimated cost No. Estimated cost No. Estimated cost No. Estimated cost £ £ £ £ Surgical Footwear (pairs) 3,998 37,000 3,996 37,000 3,255 28,099 2,409 20,625 Repairs to Surgical Foot wear 6,739 5,000 7,588 5,700 2,598 1,763 2,036 1,304 Surgical Abdominal Supports 8,328 31,000 8,430 31,500 4,497 14,452 3,511 11,306 Elastic Hosiery (pairs or single) 3,043 5,300 3,184 5,600 2,586 4,155 2,012 3,105 Wigs 587 7,500 581 I7,500 381 4,830 389 4,962 1. The figures for repairs of surgical footwear include all types of repairs and are not related to soling and heeling only. 2. The figures for surgical abdominal supports also include all types of belts, some of which are not chargeable.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodThe following are the figures for England and Wales: