Speeches

George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the NHS was of treating patients with glaucoma in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Alistair Burt

Cost information is shown in the following table from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year. The table shows the costs of a surgical procedure covering one episode of care under one consultant in an admitted patient or outpatient setting and does not include other elements of the patient pathway such as general practitioner consultations or outpatient appointments. It is not possible to separately identify the costs of glaucoma in non-surgical appointments.

Costs associated with glaucoma procedures, 2011/12 – 2013/14

Healthcare Resource Group (HRG)

Activity

National average unit cost £

Estimated total cost £million

2011/12

Major Glaucoma Procedures

2,248

£1,440

£3.2m

Intermediate Glaucoma Procedures

33,842

£387

£13.1m

Minor Glaucoma Procedures

17,194

£293

£5.0m

Total

£21.3m

2012/13

Major Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 1+

1,206

£1,665

£2.0m

Major Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 0

2,622

£885

£2.3m

Intermediate Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 1+

3,167

£1,250

£4.0m

Intermediate Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 0

17,410

£451

£7.9m

Minor Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 1+

2,014

£773

£1.6m

Minor Glaucoma Procedures, with CC Score 0

19,243

£198

£3.8m

Total

£21.6m

2013/14

Major Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 1+

1,709

£1,689

£2.9m

Major Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 0

3,129

£884

£2.8m

Intermediate Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 1+

3,384

£1,236

£4.2m

Intermediate Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 0

9,297

£772

£7.2m

Minor Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 1+

2,142

£680

£1.5m

Minor Glaucoma Procedures with CC Score 0

24,688

£181

£4.5m

Total

£23.1m

Source: Reference costs, Department of Health

Notes:

  1. The HRG classification groups procedures into categories such as major, intermediate and minor, according to their complexity.
  2. Complication and comorbidity scores describe the illness severity and complexity of patients, and the additional resources required for their treatment.