To ask the Secretary of State for Health (I) for what reason it is his Department's policy that separate charges are made when a doctor prescribes a course of treatment which involves two active ingredients when the ingredients are packaged as a single entity by the manufacturers;(2) for what reason it is his Department's policy that a single charge is made when a doctor prescribes a course of treatment which involves two active ingredients when the ingredients are formulated together in a single package.
The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 1989 provide that a prescription charge is payable in respect of each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed, unless the patient is exempt. Where two or more ingredients are supplied in a single tablet or capsule, a single charge is made. If, for the convenience of the patient and to improve
| £ million | ||||||||
| 1978–79 | 1985–86 | 1986–87 | 1987–88 | 1988–89 | 1989–90 | 1990–91 | 11991–92 | |
| Expenditure on Acute Services2 | ||||||||
| Inpatient care | 1,621 | 3,372 | 3,589 | 3,885 | 4,372 | 4,736 | — | — |
| Outpatient care | 431 | 998 | 1,065 | 1,147 | 1,249 | 1,376 | — | — |
| Total | 2,052 | 4,370 | 4,654 | 5,032 | 5,621 | 6,112 | — | — |
| As a percentage of expenditure on the HCHS3 | 46·4 | 45·5 | 45·1 | 44·6 | 44·8 | 45·0 | ||
| Expenditure on geriatric services and services for people with mental illness and learning disabilities | ||||||||
| Inpatient care | ||||||||
| Geriatric | 835 | 902 | 981 | 1,062 | 1,087 | — | — | |
| Mental Illness | 937 | 998 | 1,146 | 1,262 | 1,323 | — | — | |
| Learning disability | 477 | 496 | 527 | 586 | 620 | — | — | |
| Outpatient care | ||||||||
| Geriatric | 7 | 8 | 26 | 24 | 25 | — | — | |
| Mental illness | 68 | 71 | 67 | 68 | 74 | — | — | |
| Learning disability | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | |
compliance, two or more kinds of tablet or capsule are supplied in one package, each carries a separate prescription charge.
The Government are concerned to ensure that patients' liability to meet prescription charges is applied in an equitable manner. It would not be appropriate to allow manufacturers' packaging arrangements, which provide a benefit to some patients, also to determine the number of charges a patient may have to pay.