§ Mr. Hickmetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) pursuant to his reply of 25 February, Official Report, columns 71–72, if any savings on the adjustment of reimbursement prices paid to dispensing doctors will be made to the National Health Service;
(2) pursuant to the reply of 25 February, Official Report, columns 71–72, over what period of time and for how long dispensing doctors have been obtaining discounts on drugs costs from wholesalers and manufacturers.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1985, c. 272]: There are no savings to be transferred to the National Health Service. General medical practitioners' remuneration is set so that all the practitioners as a body are reimbursed either directly or indirectly through fees and allowances all the expenses they incur in the course of providing general medical services. Actual expenses due to the profession as a body are, and always have been, calculated after deducting discount. Before the introduction of the discount scale dispensing doctors were, however, reimbursed the cost of drugs without any adjustment for discount. As a result, they received a disproportionate share of the total expenses incurred by and reimbursed to the profession. Any gain by dispensing doctors from discounts has therefore been al the expense of other doctors and not the taxpayer. We do not know precisely how long doctors have been receiving discounts but the practice appears to have developed in the last five years or so.