Prescriptions: Fees and Charges Tom Brake To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of (a) the percentage of prescriptions dispensed which have incurred charges and (b) the amount paid in prescription charges in each of the last 12 months. Mr. Mike O'Brien NHS Prescription Services (NHSPS) are responsible for the reimbursement and remuneration of dispensing contractors in England on behalf of the Department. The NHSPS captures information from prescription items submitted by dispensing contractors for reimbursement and remuneration purposes. The following table provides an estimate of prescription charges for items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England, during the latest available 12 month period, August 2008 to July 2009. 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| |Percentage of prescription items where prescription charges were paid at the point of dispensing1|Total prescription charges paid (£000)2,3| 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|August 2008 |6.6 |37,622 | 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|September 2008 |6.6 |39,835 | 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|October 2008 |6.1 |42,101 | 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|November 2008 |6.3 |37,781 | 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|December 2008 |6.5 |41,961 | 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|January 2009 |6.4 |39,685 | 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|February 2009 |6.3 |36,280 | 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|March 2009 |6.3 |41,777 | 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|April 2009 |6.1 |38,864 | 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|May 2009 |6.1 |37,333 | 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|June 2009 |6.0 |39,419 | 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|July 2009 |5.9 |40,552 | 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|Total |6.3 |473,250 | 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|1 This excludes items dispensed against pre payment certificates (PPCs) as it is not possible to extract this information from other items dispensed where a patient is exempt from the prescription charge.2 Total income from prescriptions dispensed with a charge at the point of dispensing and from PPC sales. Refunds against both of these sources of income have been subtracted from the reported total income.3 The ‘total prescription charges paid’ is an estimate as prescription charge refunds included in the calculation of this total may relate to a previous month to that in which the prescription charge was paid. NHSPS payment information captured at the time of processing is not amended as a result of the refund process.Source:PD1 report available on the NHS Prescriptions Services website at:www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/947.aspxand NHS Help With Health Costs Pre-payment Certificate database.| | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------