§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the secretary of State Services if he will publish a table showing the total net weekly value of standard retirement pension for a single person and for a married couple, expressed as a percentage of (a) gross average male manual earnings and (b) average male manual earnings net of tax and national insurance contribution, in each year since 1948.
§ Mr. OrmeA table is attached:
vided by the National Health Service; if he will require this information to be conveyed orally; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleNo. To display notices would be inappropriate, as contact lenses are not available under the general 487W ophthalmic services. They may be provided through the hospital eye service if a consultant ophthalmologist considers them to be clinically necessary, and most if not all patients who would qualify for contact lenses under the NHS on this basis would already be under the care of a hospital specialist. If, however, such a patient did consult a practitioner offering general ophthalmic services the practitioner is already obliged by his NHS terms of service to inform the patient's doctor if he considers that the patient requires treatment outside the scope of the general ophthalmic services.