§ Mr. Michael Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated annual cost of maintaining the 2,500 kidney machines in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MoyleMy Department is currently seeking to determine the costs of the various methods of treatment for chronic renal failure and I hope to make62W the results available later. Preliminary results suggest that the recurring annual costs excluding any capital element of dialysing a patient at home or in hospital are approximately £6,000 and £9,000 respectively. As an approximate guide therefore—assuming a ratio of home patients to hospital patients of 3:1—the recurring annual cost of dialysing 2,500 chronic renal failure patients would be around £17 million.
§ Mr. Michael Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many patients over the age of 50 years are receiving dialysis treatment on kidney machines in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MoyleI regret the information is not available at present. I hope to obtain it next month and will write to the hon. Member then.