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18 Apr 2006 : Column 193W—continued
Childhood Obesity
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire; and if she will make a statement. [60872]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The responsibility for local health services lies with the local national health service. It is for primary care trusts in conjunction with strategic
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health authorities and other local stakeholders to plan and develop services to meet the needs of their local populations.
Reducing obesity in both children and adults is one of the key overarching priorities of the Government White Paper, Choosing health". The White Paper sets out a comprehensive strategy for tackling obesity and has given a solid foundation for future work. We have also set a national public service agreement target to halt, by 2010, the year-on-year increase in obesity among children under 11 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children is currently out for consultation and will also be available in November 2006.
Current action on diet includes investment in the 5 a Day programme including the school fruit and vegetable scheme, promotion of breastfeeding, action to improve diet and nutrition across the whole school as well as work with industry on food promotion to children and reducing salt, fat and sugar. Current action on physical activity includes nine local exercise action pilots to evaluate the impact of community partnerships to increase physical activity, Schools on the Move" piloting the use of pedometers in schools and an evaluation of the health impact of transport interventions as part of the sustainable travel towns programme.
Choose and Book System
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts have been used as pilots for the choose and book system. [54872]
Mr. Byrne: The choose and book programme concluded its proof of concept (pilot) phase in June 2005 and was conducted in the following primary care trust (PCT) areas:
Clinical Contracts
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the occasions on which the NHS has entered into national clinical contracts with third party suppliers where the level of remuneration does not depend on the volume of procedures carried out. [55013]
Mr. Byrne:
The national contracts that have been awarded centrally for the provision of clinical services under the auspices of the independent sector treatment
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centre programme operate on a take or pay basis and the remuneration is for an agreed value rather than volume of activity set out in the contracts.
Clinical Negligence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clinical negligence cases were closed by the NHS Litigation Authority in 2005; how many of these cases were funded by (a) legal aid, (b) conditional fee arrangements and (c) private means; and how many cases in each category of funding resulted in (i) an award of damages and (ii) a settlement involving an agreement to pay damages. [62399]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 30 March 2006]: The number of clinical negligence cases closed by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) in either the financial year 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 or calendar year 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005 is not yet available. The number of clinical negligence claims closed in the financial year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 were 7,860 of which 3,583 had damages payments. The NHSLA does not keep records on the legal funding arrangements arranged by claimants.
Coronary Heart Disease
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how progress against achieving the quality standards laid down in the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework is being measured. [58901]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Following the Government's decision to devolve most central funding to local primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities, the balance of power has further shifted by moving away from a central target-based focus, to allow PCTs to devise local strategies to meet the specific needs and demands in their own area. The Healthcare Commission produces an annual star ratings report of performance for national health service trusts in England to assess progress against existing standards and targets, and to promote improvement in the quality of healthcare.
Crohn's Disease
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make Crohn's disease a reportable illness. [61119]
Mr. Byrne: Under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and associated regulations, notification of a number of communicable diseases is legal requirement. Notifications are necessary to identify and prevent the spread of infectious disease.
No infectious agent has been identified as the cause of Crohn's disease so it would be inappropriate to designate it a notifiable disease for the purposes of the Act.
Dementia (Staff Injuries)
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of health and social care staff injured by people with dementia in each of the last four years for which figures are available. [50209]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Dentistry
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices are (a) treating children and (b) prepared to accept children as NHS patients in each primary care trust in England. [61039]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 27 March 2006]: The number of addresses in England with an open general dental services or personal dental services contract on 28 February 2006 and a child registration and/or a child claim in the three months ending on 28 February 2006 has been placed in the Library.
Information on the number of national health service dental practices that are registering new patients is not held centrally.
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions (a) she and (b) her officials have had with the Royal College of Nursing and other professional bodies concerned with dental nursing on (i)the implications of the General Dental Council's requirements for registration and professional qualifications to be held by all dental nurses from 2008 and (ii) pay and conditions for dental nurses; [57458]
(2) how many and what percentage of dental nurses in England hold a professional qualification, broken down by region; and how many of these qualifications were gained (a) by National Certificate, (b) by relevant NVQ qualifications and (c) through other courses; [57459]
(3) how many dental nurses are employed in each region; [59213]
(4) what recent discussions she has had with the General Dental Council on dental nursing salaries. [59214]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The powers under which the General Dental Council (GDC) is to make dental nursing a registrable profession were included in an Order approved by Parliament in July 2005. Departmental officials have discussed the practicalities of registration with both the GDC and the British Association of Dental Nurses (the representative body for dental nurses). As a result, the Department funded the development of distance learning materials to provide for existing dental nurses to meet the educational requirements for registration.
The pay and conditions of dental nurses are a matter for their employers. Most dental nurses are employed by general dental practitioners who are independent contractors. The Department does not hold information on their numbers and qualifications.
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of dental nurses who are members of the NHS pension scheme; and if she will make a statement. [59211]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual salary of dental nurses is in each region. [59212]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the salaries of dental nurses is not held centrally as the pay and conditions of dental nurses are a matter for their employers. Most dental nurses are employed by general dental practitioners who are independent contractors.
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were treating NHS patients in Hyndburn in (a) 1997 and (b) the last year for which figures are available. [57562]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As at 30 September 2005, there were 65 national health service dentists with a general dental services or personal dental services contract within Hyndburn and Ribble Valley primary care trust. The corresponding figure for 30 September 1997 was 44.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of national insurance contributions was assigned to funding NHS dentistry for 2005–06. [38916]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is not the Government's policy to assign a given percentage of national insurance contributions to the finding of dental services. In 2004–05, the national insurance contributions available to the national health service vote were £15,134 million. Total NHS net expenditure including capital was £69,706 million.
The main element of NHS dental services are the primary dental care services provided by dentists working within the general dental services (GDS), or personal dental services (PDS) pilots, and estimated expenditure on GDS and PDS in 2004–05, net of dental charge income contributed by patients, was £1,486 million.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding her Department has provided to (a) Eastern Leicester primary care trust and (b) the NHS for dental services in each year between 1997 to 2005. [51011]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The main element of national health service dental services are the primary dental care services provided by dentists working within the general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) pilots. Gross and net expenditure on the GDS is set out in the following table. The table also includes gross expenditure on PDS pilots, but it is not possible to provide similar data for net PDS expenditure as patient charge income is not separately identified in NHS accounts. Based on estimates from Dental Practice Board payments data, we approximate that PDS expenditure in 2004–05 net of patient charge income was around £240 million.
(50)Expenditure data for 1997–98 to 1999–2000 are based on cash data in Appropriation Accounts. Data from 2000–01 onwards are based on the relevant resource accounts data from health authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs). This is to reflect the change in Department accountancy practices.
(51)Net expenditure represents the cost of the service after taking account of dental charge income collected from patients.
(52)NHS accounts data up to 2004–05 do not separately identify all elements of PDS gross expenditure. See note 4 for 2004–05 data.
(53)An estimate of gross PDS expenditure based on payments data obtained from the Dental Practice Board.
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The level of expenditure on hospital and community dental services is decided at local level by PCTs.
GDS is currently a non discretionary service funded from a national budget where expenditure is mainly determined by the volume of NHS work that dentists undertake. Local budget allocations are not assigned to individual PCTs. Data on the level of expenditure within the area of the Eastern Leicester PCT, drawn from payments data obtained from the Dental Practice Board, are set out in the following table. Payment data are only attributable to individual PCT areas from 2000–01 onwards.
(54)Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments and point of treatment check payment training (in 2001 only), seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants, vocational trainee salaries and National Insurance contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit payments, clinical audit secretarial support and travel expenses. Employer's superannuation costs are excluded.
(55)National PDS data for payments to PDS practices are available for 2004–05 only. This national data do not show PDS payments within Eastern Leicester PCT in 2004–05. However, the data cannot identify the cost of any PDS services that may be provided in Eastern Leicester PCT that are directly managed by local NHS trusts, such as certain dental access centres.
(56)Payments are assigned to PCT areas on the basis of practice postcode data.
(57)Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual salary can be expected by (a) a dentist and (b) a general practitioner doing NHS work full time. [51477]
Mr. Byrne:
Most general dental practitioners and general medical practitioners (GPs) are not paid on a salaried basis, but through fees and payments for the services they provide to national health service patients. The payments they receive from the NHS go towards the costs of running their practices as well as providing the practitioner's net income. As such, there are a range
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of factors that influence the final net income, including the range and level of NHS work carried out and the practice expenses they incur.
The forecast intended average net income for all GPs in Great Britain in the 2003–04 financial year was £67,040. By comparison, the estimated average net income for a dentist with a reasonable NHS commitment in 2003–04 in England was £66,700. This is the latest year for which this information is available for both doctors and dentists.
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer from the Minister of State for Health Services on 31 January 2006, Official Report, column 155, on NHS dentistry, if she will clarify the position regarding the increase in dental patient registrations in the Charnwood constituency. [52605]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the dental patient registrations in the primary care trusts (PCTs) covered by the Charnwood constituency as at 30 November 2004 and 30 November 2005.
| As at 30 November: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT | 2004 | 2005 | Percentage change |
| South Leicestershire | 81,925 | 83,827 | 2.30 |
| Charnwood and North West Leicestershire | 128,355 | 130,226 | 1.50 |
| Melton, Rutland and Harborough | 58,181 | 50,618 | -13 |
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she will take to ensure dentists with atypical earnings during the test period are not disadvantaged under the new dental contract. [54502]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has made clear in its guidance to primary care trusts (PCTs) that, under the terms of the statement of financial entitlements, it is for PCTs to agree with dentists how far it is appropriate to take into account factors such as vacancies or absences during the recent reference period in agreeing new general dental services (GDS) contracts or personal dental services (PDS) agreements.
Where the terms of the GDS contracts or PDS agreements cannot be fully resolved by 31 March 2006, dentists have a right to follow the disputes procedure including, where necessary, referral to the NHS Litigation Authority.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many courses of NHS dental treatment involved (a) one filling only and (b) one crown only in the last 12 months. [56470]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 6 March 2006]: In year ending 31 December 2005, the number of claims for treatment by general dental services and personal dental services dentists in England that involved just one filling (and no other treatment) was 1,287,688. The number that involved one crown (and no other treatment) was 44,008.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered with a (a) personal dental services and (b) general dental services dentist in (i) each parliamentary constituency and (ii) England in each year since 1997. [57568]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on general dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS) registrations by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally. A breakdown of GDS and PDS registrations by primary care trust as at 31 March in each specified year has been placed in the Library.
As at 30 November 2005, 24.8 million patients were registered with GDS and PDS dentists.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 16 years are not registered with an NHS dentist in (a) Manchester and (b) Withington constituency. [58861]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold data on people who are not registered with a national health service dentist. Using population estimates at 2004 it is possible to estimate the percentage of patients registered in the Greater Manchester strategic health authority (SHA) and in South Manchester primary care trust (PCT) and Central Manchester PCT.
| Adults | Children | |
|---|---|---|
| South Manchester PCT | 41 | 55 |
| Central Manchester PCT | 47 | 58 |
| Greater Manchester SHA | 52 | 61 |
| England | 46 | 60 |
Notes:
Patients are registered in the area that the dental surgery is located.
Children are those under 18.
The Department does not hold data for under 16s.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average pay is for a full-time dental nurse; and if she will make a statement on her plans to improve recruitment and retention in the dental profession. [58900]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the salaries of dental nurses is not held centrally as the pay and conditions of dental nurses are a matter for their employers. Most dental nurses are employed by general dental practitioners who are independent contractors.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued to the Eastleigh and Test Valley South primary care trust on the (a) production and (b) monitoring of the implementation of a dental action plan. [59470]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no specific requirement for primary care trusts (PCTs) to produce dental action plans. However, the Department has issued guidance to PCTs on the specific actions that are required to implement the new dental contract. It is for PCTs to agree locally how to use local commissioning to reflect local needs and priorities.
The decision to move to 50 per cent. PPA does not produce any dividends to the Department.
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No formal assessment has been made of the potential effects of the earlier phasing out of the purchaser parity adjustment scheme within the healthcare system in Suffolk. However, it is recognised that the impact of the decision to phase out PPA may have a disproportionate impact on some commissioners. As a result, strategic health authority transition leads have been advised that they can hold reserves locally, as set out in the NHS operating framework for 2006–07, to help manage financial risk and ease transition in PCTs which are hit hardest.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times she met the British Dental Association between July 2005 and January 2006 to discuss the NHS dental contracts. [59725]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have discussed the national health service dental contract at meetings with the British Dental Association on 6 July and 1 December 2005, and 14 February 2006.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether orthodontists are required to sign their NHS dental contract by 1 April 2006; and if she will make a statement. [59726]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Any orthodontist providing national health service treatment after 1 April 2006 must have signed a new personal dental services (PDS) agreement or (if also providing the full range of general dental services) a new general dental services (GDS) contract.
Where a primary care trust (PCT) has provided reasonable opportunities to sign a new PDS agreement or GDS contract by 31 March 2006, dentists, including orthodontists, currently providing PDS or GDS services who have not signed by this date, will no longer be entitled to be offered a new contract. A PCT may, however, agree new contracts with dentists, including orthodontists, at a later date if it wishes.
Where a dentist and a PCT were unable to resolve all aspects of the new PDS agreement or GDS contract by 31 March, the dentist could sign the contract with an indication of which terms are not yet agreed. This will enable the dentists to continue to provide NHS services from 1 April while these outstanding issues are resolved.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average income of NHS dentists in Hampshire will be under the new NHS contract after April 2006 using the Annual Contract Value system. [59728]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Specific data for Hampshire are not held centrally. However, nationally the historical estimates of average earnings and expenses for dentists nationally are calculated by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, based on data on gross fees and payments from the Dental Practice Board (DPB) and data from HM Revenue and Customs on expenses.
DPB payment data show that on average, a dentist with a reasonable national health service commitment in 2004–05 in the general dental services (GDS) received gross GDS income of about £154,350. At 2005–06 remuneration levels, this would be a gross GDS income of around £159,600. Dentists with a reasonable commitment are defined as those with gross fee earnings
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of £59,100 or more. These averages covered some 7,640 GDS principal dentists who worked throughout the year 2004–05.
HM Revenue and Customs information from dentists' tax returns show that the average ratio of expenses to gross earnings for a highly committed NHS dentist is around 52 per cent. (2003–04 tax year). The same source gives average net income of a highly committed NHS dentist from all sources as £78,600 in the tax year 2003–04, which would equate to an average of about £83,500 in 2005–06. This information is taken from the tax returns of 392 GDS principal dentists who were in non-associate business arrangements for whom the tax year ended between January and March 2004.
Combining the estimate of average gross NHS income of £159,600 for a reasonably committed dentist with the 52 per cent. expenses ratio gives an average net NHS income of £76,600 and average expenses of £83,000 in 2005–06. The average net income of a highly committed NHS dentist would be higher.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Romsey constituency have been registered with an NHS dentist in each year from 1997 to 2005. [59729]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is as follows.
Note:
The drop in registrations between December 1997 and December 1998 is mostly attributable to the reduction in re-registration period from two years to 15 months.
Source:
Dental Practice Board
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many dental advisers are employed by each primary care trust in England; [59730]
(2) how many orthodontics advisers are employed by each primary care trust in England. [60389]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what access women over 60 years have to free prescriptions provided by dentists; and if she will make a statement. [59893]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Women over 60 years of age do not pay a charge for the dispensing of national health service dental prescriptions issued by a dentist providing NHS services.
If the item being prescribed is not on the dental practitioners' formulary, then the prescription will be issued privately and will have to be paid for by the patient.
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were registered with NHS general dental practitioners in the Stockport primary care trust area in each year since 1997. [60248]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
Notes:
1.The drop in registrations between December 1997 and December 1998 is mostly attributable to the reduction in re-registration period from two years to 15 months.
2.PDS schemes have varying registration periods. To ensure comparability with corresponding GDS data, PDS registrations for established PDS practices are estimated using proxy registrations, namely the number of patients seen by PDS practices in the past 15 months.
3.Data for 2003 and earlier do not include those PDS schemes that do not have any registrations, for example dental access centres, and is therefore not directly comparable with 2004 and 2005 data.
Source:
Dental Practice Board.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why she did not submit (a) the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 and (b) the National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005 for formal 12-week public consultation. [60384]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There was a 12 week public consultation on the National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005.
Both the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 and the National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005 were not subject to the requirement for a formal 12-week public consultation. However, both sets of Regulations were published in draft during the National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005 consultation period. During this time,
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a number of stakeholders commented on the draft Regulations and their comments were taken into account before the publication of the revised regulations on 9 December 2005.
The regulatory impact assessment for these regulations is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/65/04/04126504.pdf and includes the outcome of this consultation.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in (a) Eastleigh and Test Valley South Primary Care Trust, (b) Mid-Hampshire Primary Care Trust, (c) Southampton City Primary Care Trust and (d) New Forest Primary Care Trust were accepting new NHS patients in each year since 1997. [60385]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data regarding the number of dentists admitting new National Health Service patients are not available centrally. This information can be obtained from individual primary care trusts.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to launch a public awareness campaign illustrating the new dental charges and what they will mean for patients. [60387]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is running a national communications campaign to inform the public about changes to national health service dentistry. A patient information leaflet, covering the new charges, local commissioning of dental services and guidelines for dental recall intervals, has been distributed direct to dental practices, with copies also sent to primary care trusts (PCTs), along with a poster outlining the new patient charges. PCTs will be making the materials available at other community access points in their area. From early April the information will be available in other languages.
The Department is also working with key public-facing information channels such as NHS Direct, Citizens Advice, Which?, Patient Advice and Liaison Services and the British Dental Health Foundation to provide comprehensive information that will support them in responding to inquiries.
This work is supported by an ongoing national consumer media campaign and a toolkit for strategic health authorities and PCT communications leads that will enable them to increase awareness of the changes within their local communities.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospital-based orthodontic consultants and (b) orthodontic specialists there were in the NHS in England in each year since 1997. [60576]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The number of hospital based orthodontic consultants and orthodontic specialists in the national health service from 1997 to 2004 is shown in the following table.
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Notes:
—" denotes zero
Source:
Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether dentists withdrawing from the NHS are required to repay any of the costs of their training; and if she will make a statement. [60597]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Dentistry is a degree course and there are no legal powers by which the costs of higher education may be recovered.
Most dentists treat both national health service and private patients. In order to encourage dentists to maintain or increase their NHS commitment, we have taken measures to make NHS dentistry more attractive. The new NHS contracts will remove the treadmill effect associated with the previous remuneration system and enable dentists to give more time to their patients and spend more time on preventative care.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many places are available on NHS dentists' lists in (a) the North East, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency. [62834]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) England, (b) each English region and (c) the Tees Valley have moved to the private sector in each year since 1997. [62835]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on the destination of dentists leaving the general dental services or personal dental services are not held centrally.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to begin the review of how future increases in dental funding should be distributed; who will conduct the review; when she expects the review to complete its work; and if she will make a statement. [53081]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The Department has given a commitment that the funding devolved to primary care trusts with which to commission national health service primary dental care services will be ring-fenced for a period of at least three years, that is until the end of 2008–09, and that these arrangements will be reviewed towards the end of that period. We have not yet set a more precise timetable for this work. The work will be
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undertaken by the Department in consultation with the advisory committee on resource allocation and with other stakeholders.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) Chesterfield Primary Care Trust and (b) Trent Strategic Health Authority are (i)accepting new NHS child patients, (ii) accepting new NHS adult paying patients and (iii) accepting new NHS adult payment exempt patients. [62168]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of (a) adults and (b) children in Chesterfield constituency are registered with an NHS dentist. [62169]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The percentage of adults and children registered with a national health service dentist is not available at constituency level. The number and proportion of patients registered within Chesterfield Primary Care Trust as at December 2005, last available data, are shown in the table.
Source:
Dental Practice Board
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were available to NHS patients in the Chichester district on 1 April 2005; and how many she expects to be available on the date on which the new dentists' contract is to be implemented. [61596]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
As at 31 March 2005, there were 63 national health service dentists with a general dental services or personal dental services contract within Chichester parliamentary constituency.
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Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in Lancaster and Wyre constituency (a) operate fully within the NHS and (b) only offer NHS treatment for children. [61319]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available in the format requested. As at 30 September 2005, there were 54 national health service dentists with a general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract within Lancaster and Wyre parliamentary constituency.
Information about who dentists offer to treat is not collected centrally. However, an analysis of NHS patient registrations data as at 1 June 2005 showed that within Morecambe Bay primary care trust (PCT) there were three dentists having only children registered and in Wyre PCT there were none with only children registered. This analysis is not available at constituency area.
A dentist with a GDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the PCT. Information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual GDS or PDS dentists is not centrally available.
Data include all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. Constituency areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory. Data on the number of dentists working only in private practice are not held centrally.
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