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4 Sep 2006 : Column 2074W—continued
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists from those countries which joined the EU in 2004 have applied for full registration as dentists in the UK. [87443]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 24 July 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 20 July 2006, Official Report, column 659W.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 14 July 2006, Official Report, column 2150W, on dentistry, if she will make a statement on the position at the end of May; and when she intends to publish information relating to the end of June. [87692]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of contracts signed in dispute that were still in dispute as of 31 May and 30 June, and the proportion of the total contracts signed that this represents by strategic health authority, was made available on 4 August and is available at:
www.performance.doh.gov.uk/dental_contracts Copies have also been placed in the Library.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the gross cost was of (a) dental fees for items of service and (b) dental treatments in each of the last five years; and how much of the cost was borne by patients (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of the overall cost in (A) England and (B) each region. [88137]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The main element of national health service dental services in the last five years has been the primary dental care services provided by dentists working within the general dental services (CDS) or personal dental services (PDS) pilots.
The tables, which have been placed in the Library, show the available CDS data on gross item of service fees and patient registration payments, together with the cost of certain additional payments made to dental contractors, and patient charge income for CDS contracts in England and each strategic health authority area for the financial years 2001-02 to 2005-06. The data excludes certain elements of gross
costs, such as employers' superannuation contributions, vocational trainee salaries and expenses, and the cost of salaried general dental practitioners and emergency dental services, where data is not readily available in this localised format.
The PDS pilots were generally based not on item of service fees but on regular contract payments for defined services. Localised data on PDS expenditure are only available for the financial year 2004-05. The data include regular PDS contract payments but excludes some additional payments authorised locally. They also exclude the cost of PDS services directly managed by NHS trusts such as some dental access centres. Data on PDS charge income may also be incomplete because some primary care trusts (PCTs) instituted temporary arrangements to collect charge income directly from dentists. These factors make it very difficult to make comparisons between the 2004-05 and 2005-06 data, when PDS pilot schemes rapidly expanded, and earlier periods.
Charge income levels will have been influenced by the proportion of services delivered by PDS contractors, who until the reform of primary care services introduced from April 2006 were required to apply the patient charge regime originally designed for
the item of service remuneration system operating within CDS. This patient charge regime was not sensitive to the new ways of working and treatment patterns associated with PDS contracts, and generally resulted in lower levels of charge income within PDS pilot schemes. In addition, as noted above, some PCTs have collected some patient charges direct from PDS dentists locally and this income may not be reflected in the centrally recorded data. All these factors will have distorted the proportion of patient charge income recovered particularly in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) fillings and (b) extractions were carried out on children’s teeth in (i) England and (ii) each region in each of the last five years. [88138]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The spreadsheet provides data for the year ending 31 March 2002 for England and by health authority and for the years ending 31 March 2004, 2005 and 2006 for England and by strategic health authority.
Information was not centrally analysed for 2002-03. This could now be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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