To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of dispensed drugs cost the national health service less than the current prescription charge; and what was the proportion in 1979.
The prescription charge is not, and never has been, directly related either to the particular item prescribed or to the actual cost to the national health
| IVF data 1985–90 | |||||||
| Patients | Cycles | Transfers | Pregnancies | Live Births | Preg rate/transfer | Live birth/transfer | |
| per cent. | per cent. | ||||||
| 1985 | 3,717 | 4,308 | 3,032 | 481 | 364 | 15·9 | 12·0 |
| 1986 | 4,687 | 7,043 | 3,798 | 754 | 605 | 19·9 | 15·9 |
| 11987 | 7,488 | 8,899 | 5,592 | 980 | 760 | 17·5 | 13·6 |
| 1988 | 7,515 | 10,489 | 6,553 | 1,354 | 956 | 20·7 | 14·6 |
| 1989 | 8,790 | 10,413 | 7,363 | 1,599 | 1,157 | 21·7 | 15·7 |
| 1990 | 9,964 | 11,583 | 8,195 | 2,004 | 1,443 | 24·4 | 17·6 |
| 1Excluding one large centre with incomplete data | |||||||
| GIFT data 1987–90 | ||||||||
| Patients | Cycles | Transfers | Pregnancies | Live births | Preg. rate/cycle | Preg. rate/transfer | Live Birth rate/transfer | |
| per cent. | per cent. | per cent. | ||||||
| 1987 | 2,288 | 2,658 | — | 498 | — | 18·7 | — | — |
| 1988 | 2,840 | 3,392 | 2,899 | 707 | — | 20·8 | 24·4 | — |
| 1989 | 2,581 | 3,079 | 2,584 | 586 | 361 | 19 | 22·7 | 14·0 |
| 1990 | 2,332 | 2,671 | 2,179 | 539 | 358 | 20·2 | 24·7 | 16·4 |
Source: Statistical Analysis of the United Kingdom: IVF and GIFT Data 1985–90, Interim Licensing Authority, published June 1992.
service of dispensing it. It is an amount which successive Governments have thought it reasonable for those who can afford to do so to contribute towards the cost of NHS pharmaceutical services. In 1993–94, an estimated 50 per cent. of prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors will cost the NHS less than the prescription charge of £4·25. Data for 1979 are not available.