Table 5.

Costing of cylinder provision in 1996 (assuming 23 cylinders per patient using current costs) and two alternative provision options on basis of actual cylinder usage and number of prescriptions in 1996. Costs are in £

Costs	1996	Option 1*	Option 2†
Cylinder
Service	54 940	25 978	52 425
Ingredient	471 010	212 527	19 495
Dispensing fees	207 700	98 209	24 774
Delivery allowance	213 320	100 866	25 444
Flow head rental	67 789	32 053	5 390
Concentrator
Installation	0	69 203	6 010
Back-up cylinder	0	4 845	421
Rental	0	294 219	25 551
Servicing	0	104 739	9 096
Electricity	0	58 757	51 355
Total cost	1 014 759	1 001 396	219 961
Saving		13 363	794 798

^*1543 patients (each using 24 cylinders of oxygen, flow rate 1 l/min) transferring to concentrator, and 1384 patients using 22 cylinders each. 

^†2793 patients using 1 cylinder for 1 month only, and 134 patients receiving long term oxygen therapy (2 l/min for 15 hours per day) by concentrator.