§ Mr. BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is her best estimate of the average number of prescription items issued each year to people over state pension age;
(2) how many people received help with health costs through certificate AG2 in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of these were over state pension age.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe available information is shown in the table.
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Average number of prescribed items per head of population for women aged 60 and over and men aged 65 or over dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors in England in 1992; number of courses of adult dental treatment obtained free of charge by people entitled to full remission of charges under the national health service low income scheme1, number of free sight tests obtained by people covered by AG2 certificates and numbers of optical vouchers used by people covered by AG2 or AG3 certificates in England in 1992–93. Number Prescribed items 218.9 Courses of adult dental treatment3 4,356,963 Sight tests3 278,000 Optical vouchers3 4317,910 1 People receiving income support or family credit or covered by AG2 certificates. 2 People over state retirement pension age are exempt from NHS prescription charges. A total of 167.8 million prescribed items were dispensed free of charge to this group by community pharmacists and appliance contractors in 1992. 3 Includes people over state pension age but data for these age groups are not collected separately. 4 Figure derived from 2 per cent. sample of all vouchers reimbursed by family health services authorities.
§ Mr. BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people benefited from the help with health costs scheme for(a) glasses, (b) dentistry and (c) the cost of eye tests, in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. SackvilleInformation on the number of people who benefited from help with the costs of glasses, dentistry and eye tests is not available. The number of sight tests and vouchers paid for by family health services authorities in 1992–93 is as follows:
Number Vouchers1 3,184,970 National Health Service Sight Tests 5,527,590 Domiciliary Visits 152,260 Private sight tests where partial help was given 56,020 Private Domiciliary Visits where partial help was given 2,090 1 It is not possible to distinguish between those who have had partial help towards the cost of glasses and those who have had full help. The number of courses of dental treatment for adults provided with full or partial remission of charges in 1992–93 was 4,492,979. This represents approximately 18 per cent. of adult courses of treatment. A further 5 per cent. of courses of treatment were provided to exempt adults.
§ Mr. BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average value of help received with the cost of glasses including lenses through NHS vouchers, full or partial value, in each voucher band in the last two years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. SackvilleInformation is not available in the form requested, since the Department does not hold figures on the number of people who get partial help with spectacle costs, or how much they get. The value of each type of voucher is shown in the table.
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£ 1991–92 Voucher A 19 70 Voucher B 31.15 Voucher C 49.00 Voucher D 37.80 Voucher E 62.30
£ 1992–93 Voucher A 23.70 Voucher B 37.40 Voucher C 51.00 Voucher D 100.00 Voucher E 41.00 Voucher F 54.00 Voucher G 65.00 Voucher H 110.00