§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate how many women have received prescriptions for oral contraceptives in each of the past five years for which figures are available.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThis information is not available centrally.
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the(a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per month of oral contraceptives prescribed by the national health service;
(2) what is the cost to the health service of all the oral contraceptives prescribed which cost more than the average;
(3) what is the total cost to the health service of oral contraceptive prescriptions per month.
§ Dr. MawhinneyInformation is not available in the form requested.
Figures are based on the net ingredient cost of oral contraceptives dispensed by; community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescribing doctors in England in 1991. The lowest net ingredient cost per prescription was £0.62, the highest £9.12 and the average £5.01. The annual net ingredient cost of oral contraceptives with a cost per prescription greater than £5.01 was £23.79 million.
The total cost of oral contraceptives to the health service per month was£3.14 million.
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the cost to the health service for oral contraceptives for the last five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. SackvilleInformation is not available in the form requested. The table shows the annual net ingredient cost for oral contraceptives from 1987 to 1991. Figures for 1987 to 1990 are estimates based on a sample of about one in two hundred prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors. Figures for 1991 are actual costs and include all prescriptions dispensed by; community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescribing doctors.
606W
Estimated Net Ingredient Cost for Oral Contraceptives For England from 1987 to 1991 Year £ Million 1987 20.01 1988 23.97 1989 27.27 1990 32.09 1991 37.65