§ Mr. Chris Pattenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many certificates of exemption from prescription charges are granted to (a) pregnant women and (b) women with a baby under one year; and what is the estimated cost of each of these categories of exemption.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergIn 1981, the latest year for which figures are available, family practitioner committees in England and Wales issued some 545,000 exemption certificates to women who either were pregnant or had given birth less than 12 months previously. No subdivision of this figure is available, although the majority by far of such certificates are issued to women while they are pregnant.
Available statistics do not show how many prescription items are dispensed to holders of these certificates, nor is it known how many might also be exempt on, for example, low income grounds. No estimate of the cost of this category of exemption can therefore be made.
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§ Mr. Chris Pattenasked the Secretary of State for Social services how many exemption certificates from prescription charges given to pregnant women are withdrawn after a miscarriage before the 28th week of pregnancy.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThis information is not available.
A family practitioner committee which has issued an exemption certificate on grounds of pregnancy would not normally know if the woman concerned later miscarried. It is up to the certificate holder to notify the committee; if she does so the committee will advise her, as tactfully and sympathetically as possible, that she is no longer entitled to exemption.
If my hon. Friend has a particular case in mind I am quite ready to look into it.