§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the names of those senior officials of his Department who have met to discuss his limited list proposals with registered charities, community health councils, family practitioners' committees, health service unions and professional bodies, and dispensing chemists; and if he will state in each case (a) the name of the organisation with whom the meeting took place, (b) its date and (c) its duration.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo meetings on our limited list proposals have been held with registered charities, community health councils, family practitioner committees or Health Service unions. Various meetings have taken place with bodies representing the medical and pharmaceutical professions and the pharmaceutical industry. No useful purpose would be served by listing the names of officials involved.
Mrs. Ann Winterton asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the products containing folic acid and vitamin B12 were added to the list of vitamins that will continue to be prescribable on the National Health Service from 1 April; how many other preparations have so far been added to the list announced on 8 November 1984; when they were added; and what is the overall effect of these additions on the prescribed savings of £100 million.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt was never our intention that prescriptions for vitamin B12 or folic acid should be affected by the limited list proposals. The final list of drugs to remain available on the National Health Service in each of the groups covered by the proposals will not be determined until our consultation with the professions and industry is complete.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give an estimate of the total number of patients likely to be affected by his limited list 344W proposals as they now stand either by (a) having to pay for preparations which they obtain free at present or (b) having to switch to an alternative preparation to the one they receive now.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWhilst some patients might choose to pay for their medicines there will be no need for anyone to do so as there will be an adequate range of effective medicines available on the NHS. The final list of drugs to remain available in each of the groups covered by our limited list proposals will not be determined until consultation with the professions and industry is complete. It would be misleading to estimate at this stage the number of patients who might need to switch to alternative medicines still available under the NHS.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he proposes to permit general practitioners to have a final say in prescribing a proprietary drug if he is satisfied it has greater efficacy than its generic equivalents on the prescribed list.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThis will not be necessary. We propose to produce a list of drugs prescribable on the National Health Service which will meet all clinical needs. These will not necessarily be "generic equivalents" to proprietary drugs but will be a range of alternative medicines which are both effective and cheap.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many drugs are prescribed under the National Health Service; what percentage of the total are likely to be affected by the proposed limited list; and of the drugs presently prescribable, what percentage of the total are proprietary drugs.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assessment he has made of the number of pharmaceutical companies likely to be significantly affected by the proposed limited prescribing list.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe have always known that the full effect on individual companies could not be estimated sensibly until the limited prescribing list is finalised.