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Written question asked by Baroness Gale (Labour) on Wednesday, 22 July 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 August 2020. It was answered by Lord Bethell (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 August 2020 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people paid for a prescription each year in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, (4) 2018, and (5) 2019.

Answer

The information requested on the number of people who have paid for prescriptions is not collected centrally. The NHS Business Services Authority collects data on the number of prescription items dispensed and paid for but does not hold data on the number of people who have paid for their prescriptions.

The NHS Business Services Authority processes the NHS Low Income Scheme and issues HC2 certificates. It does not hold data on how many people have used their certificate after it is issued; and multiple people in a household in addition to the applicant might be covered by a certificate, including partner and children. However, data is supplied on the number of HC2 certificates issued in 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. This is shown in the following table:

Period

Number of HC2 certificates issued

2014-15

214,975

2015-16

225,239

2016-17

214,867

2017-18

206,599

2018-19

182,661

Note: Data is recorded April-March. Data provided is recorded on a monthly basis and recorded in the NHS Low Income Scheme Annual Statistics Report. This data relates to the number of certificates issued, not the number of people supported by the NHS Low Income Scheme.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL7135
Session
2019-21
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Fees and charges Prescriptions
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk