§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the projected National Health Service expenditure for 1985 on (a) contraceptive, (b) abortion and (c) sterilisation services;
(2) what has been the total National Health Service expenditure on the provision of (a) contraceptive, (b) abortion and (c) sterilisation services in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkePrecise details of the costs of contraceptive services provided through the National Health Service are not available though it is possible to identify the fees paid to general medical practitioners for the provision of these services, and to estimate the basic ingredient cost of the medicines and devices prescribed, and the costs of family planning clinics. Total expenditure on these is estimated to have been:
England £ millions cash 1975–76 19 1976–77 30 1977–78 32 1978–79 34 1979–80 40 1980–81 49 1981–82 55 1982–83 61 1983–84 67 Figures for earlier years are not available.Our Department's costing returns do not identify expenditure on abortions and sterilisation services.We do not allocate centrally funds for future years for any of these services. No projections are therefore possible.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give a breakdown by contraceptive technique of the numbers of patients in receipt of contraceptive services under the National Health Service for each of the last five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe available information is given in the table. We do not collect detailed statistics about the contraceptive techniques used by the patients of general medical practitioners.
663W
England Number of patients: Thousands 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Patients of family planning clinics and domicilliary services—birth control method* Oral contraceptives 809.2 806.8 826.6 839.9 853.7 Intrauterine device 321.0 312.0 270.2 248.5 238.3 Cap/diaphragm 117.6 122.2 120.1 114.2 112.4 Sheath 143.3 145.0 146.5 148.8 156.1 Chemicals 12.5 10.2 9.3 8.6 7.7 Rhythm 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.3 Female sterilisation 2.0 1.4 1.7 2.3 2.4 Vasectomy 16.0 16.0 15.0 14.3 13.1 Other 10.7 10.2 11.5 10.3 10.9 Total 1,432.5 1,424.0 1,401.5 1,387.2 1,394.9 Patients of general medical practitioners—contraceptive service provided† Fitting an intrauterine device 110.0 106.9 102.9 107.4 107.6 Other contraceptive services 1,811.8 1,917.0 1,988.6 2,083.2 2,250.6 Total 1,921.8 2,023.9 2,091.5 2,190.6 2,358.2 * Primary birth control method recommended, chosen, or already in use at time of first visit in the year. † Patients in respect of whom a payment was due at the end of the year.