Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people in England with asthma who do not currently have prescription prepayment certificates.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This information is not held in the format requested.
Medical conditions are not disclosed when a prescription pre-payment certificate is purchased.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 28 October (HL Deb, col 772), why data on the costs of the supply of methadone are not collected centrally; and what data are available on the number of patients using methadone in different regions of England.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government does not collect detailed data like the costs of supplying specific drugs, such as methadone.
Public Health England collects data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System on the number of people in treatment for opiates who are receiving a pharmacological intervention. Most of these people received prescriptions as part of opiate substitution therapy, for which methadone is the most commonly prescribed medication.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 28 October (HL Deb, col 772), what is the level of provision in different regions of England of heroin-assisted treatment involving addicts injecting safely.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Information on the level of provision of heroin assisted treatment is not centrally collected.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken, or are planning to take, to increase access to talking therapies and other non-pharmacological management strategies for substance misuse.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for substance misuse treatment and commissioning a range of services and interventions, including psychosocial interventions, to meet that need.
Public Health England has published a range of guidance and toolkits online to support local areas in increasing the provision of effective psychosocial interventions.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of drug deaths across different regions of England.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 3 July (HL Deb, col 1435), what assessment they have made of the finding of the House of Commons Health Committee in its report NHS Charges (HC815–1), published on 18 July 2006, that the list of exemptions for prescription charges was “inconsistent and anomalous”; and what plans they have, in any future meetings with Asthma UK, to discuss the current list of exemptions for prescription charges in regard to those who have asthma.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department has made no formal assessment of the finding of the House of Commons Health Committee in its report NHS Charges (HC815–1), published on 18 July 2006, that the list of exemptions for prescription charges was “inconsistent and anomalous”. The Department has no current plans to review the existing National Health Service prescription charging exemption arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much it costs NHS England annually to (1) collect payments for free prescriptions, (2) administer the system of medical exemption certificates, and (3) provide prescription prepayment certificates.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS England and NHS Improvement do not collect any payment for free prescriptions.
The costs to administer the system of medical exemption certificates is around £1 million. The costs to provide prescription prepayment certificates is around £4.8 million. These figures have been provided by the NHS Business Services Authority and are for the financial period 2018/19.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost to NHS England of GP appointments and hospital admissions arising from people with asthma and other long-term health conditions who do not take prescription medications because they cannot afford them.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department has made no such estimate. Extensive arrangements are already in place to help people access National Health Service prescriptions. These include a broad range of NHS prescription charge exemptions, for which someone with asthma and other long-term health conditions may qualify.
To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, cost of the prescription pre-payment certificates were frozen for another year. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.