§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is his policy regarding financial consequences to patients arising from the proposed changes in the hospital eye service supply of spectacles; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if all those now able to get free spectacles through the hospital eye service will continue to do so after 1 July; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeAt present hospital eye service (HES) patients who choose to have National Health Service glasses pay the statutory charges. These charges are intended broadly to reflect the full economic cost to the NHS of supplying spectacles. There are arrangements for the exemption from, or remission of, charges for children, people in receipt of certain social security benefits and those on low income. From 1 July, it is proposed that spectacles for HES patients will either be dispensed within the HES at hospital premises subject to NHS charges or obtained on the private market. Vouchers will be available to those at present benefiting from the exemption or remission arrangement intended to provide them with basic pairs of spectacles to meet their clinical needs.
Interested bodies have been consulted about the proposals, and consideration is now being given to the comments received.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many spectacles prescriptions for (a) children, (b) students up to the age of 19 years, and (c) adults over pension age were issued through the hospital eye service in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many prescriptions for spectacles were issued through the hospital eye service in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeI regret that I cannot give the hon. Member all the information he seeks. Information on the age groups of patients for whom spectacles are prescribed through the hospital eye service is not collected centrally. In 1984, the latest year for which figures are available, the estimated number of complete pairs of spectacles prescribed through the National Health Service hospital eye service was 264,258.