§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether National Health cardiac patients are supplied with lithium battery heartpacers instead of those with mercury cells; whether, if they are not so provided, they are allowed to pay themselves for the additional cost of a lithium machine; and what are the relative disadvantages of the mercury machine in so far as length of life and reduction in number of operations a patient must suffer.
§ Dr. OwenNational Health Service patients may be fitted with cardiac pacemakers powered by mercury cell or lithium iodide batteries. If a pacemaker of either variety would meet the patient's essential clinical needs, it would be for the health authority to weigh up the advantages of the more expensive appliance. If the authority decided that lithium iodide powered pacemakers could not be provided, they could not then be fitted on payment of a special fee since authorities are not empowered to make such charges.
The present generation of mercury cell batteries have a life of about three years. Manufacturers claim that lithium iodide batteries will have a life of six to seven years. But these are not the only factors which could affect the number of operations needed; there are others—for example, failure of circuitry or infection of implantation site.