§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the average cost of financing a hip replacement operation for a 65-year-old British citizen in each EU country. [7600]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 15 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The Department has not undertaken a review of the cost of treatments and procedures across all member states of the European Union. Within the national health service in England, we collect and publish the costs of a range of treatments and procedures on an annual basis. This information is made available to the NHS and general public and can be found on the Department's website. The cost of a primary hip replacement for a British citizen (carried out as a planned in-patient procedure), is detailed in the table for four preceding years.
£ 1997–98 3,678 1998–99 3,755 1999–2000 3,899 2000–01 4,179 The costs are not differentiated by age, therefore the costs apply equally to patients of any age, not just those who are 65 years old.
830W