HC Deb 28 March 2000 vol 347 cc128-9W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of medicinal drugs as a percentage of NHS funding for the next five years; and what the figure was for the last five years. [115943]

Ms Stuart

Decisions about the amount spent on drugs over the next five years will be made locally.

The table shows the expenditure on drugs as a percentage of National Health Service funding for each of the past five years.

Total NHS drugs bill as a percentage of total NHS expenditure
Year Percentage
1994–95 12.1
1995–96 12.7
1996–97 13.3
1997–98 13.7
1998–99 13.8