§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the glass syringes provided for diabetic patients on the National Health Service are as suitable for people with visual impairment as the disposable syringes available privately; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe special needs of blind or partially sighted diabetics receiving insulin treatment are catered for by the availability on general practitioner prescription of glass and metal pre-set syringes. These syringes can be set to deliver the pre-determined insulin dose necessary for a particular patient and thereafter there is no necessity for visual checking that the correct quantity of insulin has been drawn into the barrel of the syringe. Hospital consultants, but not general practitioners, are, however, at liberty to prescribe and health authorities to supply disposable or "click" syringes as alternatives to preset syringes for visually impaired diabetic patients.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has made any estimate of the amount of money which is spent privately by diabetic patients on disposable needles and syringes each year because they are not available on prescription under the National Health Service.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergNo. The data needed to make such an estimate are not held by the Department.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the cost of making disposable needles and syringes generally available to diabetic patients on prescription under the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe estimated annual additional cost of providing disposable—single-use—hypodermic equipment on prescription for all diabetic patients in England is over £3½ million for needles and nearly £6 million for syringes.
Such single-use needles and syringes offer little advantage, other than convenience, over the re-usable kind supplied on prescription and I do not think that we 442W should be justified in diverting from other NHS priorities the additional expenditure which would be entailed in making them generally available.
If single-use needles and syringes are considered medically essential for a particular patient they may be supplied through the hospital service.