§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of instances when patients received free National Health Service treatment for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. John PattenTreatment under the National Health Service takes a wide variety of forms, from hospital treatment to treatment by the family practitioner services and the community health services. All such treatment is free at the point of delivery except where specific statutory provision for charges is made.
No meaningful figure for total instances of free treatment under the NHS can therefore be provided; the HMSO publication "Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for England 1982" gives a wide range of statistical information.