§ Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figures available on the costs to the National Health Service of(a) dental care, (b) treating strokes, (c) treating heart disease and (d) treating cancer; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Freeman[holding answer 21 December 1989]: The cost to the NHS of dental care provided by general dental practitioners in England was £674.1 million in 1988–89. This figure includes £14.8 million administration expenditure by the Dental Estimates Board. I regret that information on the precise costs to the National Health Service of treating strokes, heart disease and cancer is not available. However the Department has estimated that the costs in England in 1988–89 were of the order of:
£ million Strokes (Cerebrovascular disease) 650 Heart disease (including chronic rheumatic, ischaemic and other forms of heart disease 900 Cancer 1,000 Notes:
- 1.Estimates include in-patient, out-patient and primary care costs.
- 2.Estimates derived from costing and activity data from various sources.