§ Mr. Molloyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the total capital and current expenditure on the National Health Service, and the contribution made to that cost by charges, in each year since 1948; what is his estimate of expenditure on private medicine for the same period; and what these figures represent as proportions of the gross national product in each year.
§ Mr. MoyleThe table below sets out the total capital and current expenditure on the National Health Service in Great Britain for each complete financial year since 1948, together with the contribution from charges, and also the proportion of the Gross Domestic Product—GDP—in the United Kingdom—the figures most readily available—taken up by the cost of the NHS—including income from charges.
712WAs far as the private sector of medicine is concerned, the information requested is not collected by my Department, but we estimate that in recent years expenditure on private medicine might increase the proportion of GDP by about ¼ per cent.
Gross expenditure £ million Contribution from charges per cent. GDP* per cent. 1949–50 443 0.7 4.0 1950–51 476 0.6 4.2 1951–52 490 1.6 4.0 1952–53 550 3.6 3.7 1953–54 530 4.5 3.7 1954–55 557 4.5 3.6 1955–56 623 4.5 3.6 1956–57 699 4.5 3.6 1957–58 733 4.8 3.7 1958–59 780 4.5 3.8 1959–60 839 4.4 3.9 1960–61 933 4.1 4.0 1961–62 974 5.0 4.0 1962–63 1,024 5.0 4.0 1963–64 1,106 4.9 4.0 1964–65 1,209 4.5 4.0 1965–66 1,337 2.3 4.2 1966–67 1,461 2.2 4.3 1967–68 1,597 2.1 4.6 1968–69 1,712 2.7 4.6 1969–70 1,811 3.3 4.6 1970–71 2,108 2.9 4.8 1971–72 2,379 3.3 4.8 1972–73 2,714 3.4 5.0 1973–74 3,074 3.2 4.9 1974–75 3,982 2.6 5.4 1975–76 5,380 2.0 5.8 1976–77 6,127 2.1 5.9 * Figures relate to calendar year, that is, to 1949 for the financial year 1949–50.