§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about National Health Service prescription and related charges and spectacle vouchers.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI will shortly be laying before the House regulations for increases in prescription charges in the National Health Service in England and Wales to come into effect on 1 April 1990. The prescription charge will increase by 25p from £2.80 to £3.05. The increase of 8.9 per cent. reflects the higher cost of the pharmaceutical services and will provide about £13 million extra income to the resources available to the Health Service in England and Wales.
The new charge will continue to represent less than half the cost of an average prescription to the NHS. Under 300W existing exemption arrangements over three quarters of prescription items are provided free of charge and these exemption arrangements will continue. The four-monthly and annual prepayment certificates will continue to be provided, the fees for which will increase from £14.50 and £40.00 to £15.80 and £43.50 respectively. A prescription charge will be paid in respect of less than 20 per cent. of all items dispensed in the NHS as a result of the exemption arrangements and continued availability of prepayment certificates. The charges for elastic stockings and tights., wigs (with the exception of the charge for a full bespoke human hair wig) and fabric supports supplied through the hospital service will also be increased from 1 April, as set out in table A.
I am pleased to announce a significant move to help those who receive vouchers for spectacles. The value of the vouchers will be increased from 1 April and some definitions changed so that more prescriptions fall into the higher bands. In all, the amount paid in spectacle vouchers is expected to rise by some 10 per cent. As from 1 April, spectacle voucher values will be increased by around 4.7 per cent. overall with the value of the most frequently prescribed A and D vouchers rising by 5.9 and 6.1 per cent. respectively. Voucher values for the hospital eye service will also rise by the same amount. In addition to the general increase, the specification of the higher spectacle voucher bands B and E will be more widely defined to take in more optical prescriptions. Those affected by this change will benefit by receiving significantly more money from which to buy the spectacles of their choice. The revised voucher values are set out in table B.
Table A New hospital service charges from 1 April 1990 (present charge in brackets) Elastic stockings and tights, wigs and fabric supports £ £ Each elastic stocking 3.05 (2.80) Tights supplied through the hospital service 6.10 (5.60) Surgical brassiere 13.00 (12.00) Abdominal or spinal support 17.00 (16.00) Stock modacrylic wig 26.00 (24.00) Partial human hair wig 67.00 (62.00) Full bespoke human hair wig 97.00 (97.00) 301W
Table B National Health Service spectacle voucher values From 1 April 1990 £ Present value £ Voucher A 18.00 17.00 B 28.75 28.00 C 47.00 46.00 D 34.75 32.75 E 59.75 58.00 F 100.00 98.00 G1 100.00 98.00 H1 228.85 226.50 Complex lenses Single vision 3.50 3.25 Bifocal 18.75 18.00 Prisms per lens Single vision 4.00 3.75 Bifocal 5.00 4.75 Tints per lens Single vision 2.00 1.90 Bifocal 2.50 2.40 Photochromic per lens1 Single vision 2.00 1.90 Bifocal 2.50 2.40
From 1 April 1990 £ Present value £ Small frame supplement 34.50 33.00 Supplement for special facial characteristics1 34.50 33.00 1 Hospital eye service. 2 Per lens.