§ Sir J. Gilmourasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average number of persons per dentist in Scotland; what are the comparable figures for the four cities in Scotland; and what are the numbers per dentist in East Fife.
§ Mr. RossThe average number of persons per dentist is as follows:
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Scotland 3,600 Fife 4,100 Glasgow 3,000 Edinburgh 2,300 Dundee 2,600 Aberdeen 2,800 These figures are based on the number of practitioners in the General Dental Services, in local authority services, and in hospitals. Most of the dentists in the Hospital Service are centred in the four cities although they also serve the surrounding areas.
I regret that separate figures for East Fife are not available.
§ Sir J. Gilmourasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average time taken in Scotland between the start of a patient's dental treatment and the payment to the dental practitioner.
§ Mr. RossAbout 10 weeks.
Year Applications made Applications approved Amount of loans approved Number of appplications Numbers of doctors Number of appplications Numbers of doctors 1960 … 19 58 11 39 £20,875 1961 … 18 56 13 44 £37,100 1962 … 7 25 6 21 £25,350 1963 … 23 78 19 69 £69,665 1964 … 29 83 20 59 £78,540 Total … 96 300 69 232 £231,530