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Health Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of (a) GPs, (b) dentists, (c) optometrists and (d) pharmacists in (i) England and (ii) each English region who were (A) men and (B) women (1) under 40, (2) between 40 and 55 and (3) over 55 years old in each of the last three years. [191506]

Ann Keen: Information on general practitioners (GPs) is shown in the following Table 1 and Table la.

The number and percentage of national health service dentists in England, by gender and by age band, as at 31 March 2007 is shown in Table 2. This information is provided by strategic health authority (SHA). This information is based on the new contractual arrangements introduced on 1 April 2006 and is a count of the number of dentists on open NHS contracts as at 31 March 2007.

The number of NHS dentists in England as at 31 March 2006, by age band and by gender is provided in table five of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. A breakdown by SHA is not available for this period. This report, published on 23 August 2006 is available in the Library and is also available at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006

Table six of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report 2006” provides information on the number of NHS dentists in England and includes the number as at 31 March 2005. This information is provided by gender. A further breakdown by age band, and by SHA is not available.

Information on the number and percentage of ophthalmic practitioners in England is provided in table three of the “General Ophthalmic Services: Workforce Statistics for England and Wales, 31 December 2006” report. The information is provided as at 31 December, 1996 to 2006. The information is
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provided by gender. This report was published on 31 July 2007 and is available in the Library and is also available at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/eye-care/general-ophthalmic-services:-workforce-statistics-for-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-december-2006

Information on the number of ophthalmic practitioners in England as at 31 December 2006 is also provided in Annex three, table three, of the “General
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Ophthalmic Services: Workforce” report. This information is provided by gender and by primary care trust (PCT). Information by SHA is not currently available at this time due to the need to exclude duplicates who may appear in the totals for more than one PCT, at an SHA level.

Age band level data for ophthalmic practitioners is not currently available.

Information on pharmacy staff is shown in Table 3.

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Table 1: GPs (excluding retainers and registrars) as at 2004-06: numbers by age, region and gender
		Under 40 years			40-55 years			Over 55 years			Total
		2004	2005	2006	2004	2005	2006	2004	2005	2006	2004	2005	2006
	Male
	England	3,727	3,658	3,647	11,161	11,170	11,056	4,400	4,769	4,838	19,288	19,597	19,541
Q30	North East	216	203	212	608	613	633	212	230	224	1,036	1,046	1,069
Q31	North West	578	525	528	1,464	1,474	1,457	619	665	670	2,661	2,664	2,655
Q32	Yorkshire and the Humber	370	374	372	1,195	1,207	1,175	441	468	487	2,006	2,049	2,034
Q33	East Midlands	338	344	335	984	978	985	278	310	316	1,600	1,632	1,636
Q34	West Midlands	384	398	411	1,132	1,142	1,125	568	601	600	2,084	2,141	2,136
Q35	East of England	383	378	377	1,315	1,311	1,302	450	497	520	2,148	2,186	2,199
Q36	London	465	476	442	1,249	1,241	1,200	870	913	942	2,584	2,630	2,584
Q37	South East Coast	280	263	271	938	942	931	333	365	387	1,551	1,570	1,589
Q38	South Central	278	270	267	864	836	826	267	308	319	1,409	1,414	1,412
Q39	South West	435	427	432	1,412	1,426	1,422	362	412	373	2,209	2,265	2,227
	Female
	England	4,649	4,916	4,978	6,445	6,937	7,215	1,141	1,283	1,356	12,235	13,136	13,549
Q30	North East	288	295	324	321	349	377	33	35	45	642	679	746
Q31	North West	590	617	659	820	859	903	143	171	175	1,553	1,647	1,737
Q32	Yorkshire and the Humber	482	519	506	653	695	741	93	108	105	1,228	1,322	1,352
Q33	East Midlands	383	383	363	459	500	506	51	58	65	893	941	934
Q34	West Midlands	418	437	432	586	642	665	128	137	157	1,132	1,216	1,254
Q35	East of England	421	455	449	701	752	788	115	117	132	1,237	1,324	1,369
Q36	London	782	837	830	976	1,043	1,060	353	385	393	2,111	2,265	2,283
Q37	South East Coast	379	403	400	520	572	598	81	96	97	980	1,071	1,095
Q38	South Central	359	394	431	616	648	674	73	86	94	1,048	1,128	1,199
Q39	South West	547	576	584	793	877	903	71	90	93	1,411	1,543	1,580
	All GPs
	England	8,376	8,574	8,625	17,606	18,107	18,271	5,541	6,052	6,194	31,523	32,733	33,090
Q30	North East	504	498	536	929	962	1,010	245	265	269	1,678	1,725	1,815
Q31	North West	1,168	1,142	1,187	2,284	2,333	2,360	762	836	845	4,214	4,311	4,392
Q32	Yorkshire and the Humber	852	893	878	1,848	1,902	1,916	534	576	592	3,234	3,371	3,386
Q33	East Midlands	721	727	698	1,443	1,478	1,491	329	368	381	2,493	2,573	2,570
Q34	West Midlands	802	835	843	1,718	1,784	1,790	696	738	757	3,216	3,357	3,390
Q35	East of England	804	833	826	2,016	2,063	2,090	565	614	652	3,385	3,510	3,568
Q36	London	1,247	1,313	1,272	2,225	2,284	2,260	1,223	1,298	1,335	4,695	4,895	4,867
Q37	South East Coast	659	666	671	1,458	1,514	1,529	414	461	484	2,531	2,641	2,684
Q38	South Central	637	664	698	1,480	1,484	1,500	340	394	413	2,457	2,542	2,611
Q39	South West	982	1,003	1,016	2,205	2,303	2,325	433	502	466	3,620	3,808	3,807
Notes: 1. General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP Providers and GP Others. 2. Five GP ages were returned unknown in 2005 and one in 2006, these have been excluded from the data. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care

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