asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated cost of drugs to the National Health Service for the financial years 1982–83, 1983–84, and 1984–85.
This information is not available for the hospital and community health services for these years nor for family practitioner services for 1983–84 and 1984–85. The estimated expenditure on drugs and appliances in 1982–83 for the family practitioner services is £970 million.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the cost of drugs to the National Health Service, in £ sterling, at constant prices and as a percentage of total spending on the National Health Service, for each financial year since 1974–75 until the most recent available date.
The information for England is as follows:
Total cost of drugs | |||
in cash terms | at November 1980 prices | as a percentage of total NHS expenditure | |
£ million | £ million | Percentage | |
1974–75 | 268 | 782 | 7·8 |
1975–76 | 350 | 839 | 7·8 |
1976–77 | 449 | 902 | 8·7 |
1977–78 | 572 | 943 | 10·1 |
1978–79 | 686 | 970 | 10·6 |
1979–80 | 792 | 983 | 10·3 |
1980–81 | 954 | 974 | 9·6 |