§ Mr. McWalterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will assess the(a) benefits and (b) disadvantages of requiring a single prescription charge for patients whose illness or condition requires them to be prescribed two or more medicines or treatments; and if he will make a statement; [52414]
(2) if he will estimate the costs of requiring patients to pay a single prescription charge when their medical condition requires two or more medicines or treatments; and if he will estimate the costs in terms of (a) revenue forgone and (b) administrative costs incurred. [52415]
§ Mr. MilburnA single prescription charge for each occasion where a number of medicines are supplied to a patient would mean a loss of revenue to the National Health Service, or an increase in the level of the charge 517W to avoid this. Prepayment certificates are available to help patients who pay charges and need a number of medicines.
The revenue forgone from patients paying the current prescription charge to cover all items on the prescription form, rather than paying for each item, is estimated as being in the order of £55 million. This estimate takes no account of any revenue lost because of any switch from purchase of prepayment certificates that might result, or the cost of any additional drugs which may be prescribed if such a scheme was introduced. The administrative costs of such a change are likely to be minimal.