§ 43. Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the major new medical techniques introduced into the National Health Service since 1979; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitneyMost new techniques in health care are developed gradually, often as extensions of the use of existing techniques to treat new conditions. A period of development—often substantial—and clinical trial and evaluation is likely to precede general introduction. While the introduction into the National Health Service of some384W major techniques, such as stereotactic radiosurgery, lithotripsy, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography, can clearly be attributed to the period since 1979, these are not representative of the overall scale of technological advance in medicine that has been occurring. The costs of specific techniques cannot be separately identified.