§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how a course of 472W dental treatment is defined for the purposes of payment of National Health Service fees to dental practitioners; what are the maximum charges laid down for courses of non-routine treatment; and how non-routine treatment is defined.
§ Mr. MoyleFor the purpose of payment to dental practitioners of fees under the NHS general dental services, a course of treatment is defined as all the treatment necessary to render the patient dentally fit which the patient is willing to undergo.
The term"non-routine"as commonly used in the context of patient's charges for treatment under the general dental services refers to the provision of dentures, bridges, crowns, inlays, pinlays and gold fillings. The maximum charges for such treatment are as follows:
£30 for 3 or more teeth restored by crowns, inlays, pinlays and gold fillings.£30 for more than one denture based in metal or porcelain.£20 for more than one denture based in synthetic resin.The charging arrangements for the provision of bridges are the same as those applying to dentures.The overall maximum for any combination of routine and non-routine treatment is £30.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of courses of National Health Service dental treatment provided in 1978; to how many people these courses were given; and how many people had two or more courses of treatment.
§ Mr. Moyle27.5 million courses of treatment were provided in England and Wales under the NHS general dental services in 1978. The remainder of the question could be answered only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the most recent survey or inquiry made by his Department about the availability of National Health Service dental treatment for handicapped adults; and what steps are taken to monitor developments in this area.
§ Mr. MoyleNo survey or inquiry has been carried out, but health authorities 473W are required to make annual statistical returns of treatment provided for handicapped adults through the community dental service. As treatment provided in this way is a reflection of problems of availability of dental care for this group of patients, the returns will form the basis for monitoring developments.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many health authorities, and in which areas, are now making use of space capacity in school and priority community dental services to treat handicapped adults having difficulty in obtaining National Health Service dental treatment, as mentioned in paragraph 103 of the annual report of the Department of Health and Social Security 1977, Cmnd. 7394.
Local authority services for the elderly Numbers of places on 31 March 1978 per 1,000 population mid-1977 estimates aged 65 and over Lancashire North Western RHA England and Wales Day centres 0.44 2.58 3.06 Residential accommodation 17.61 19.28 18.34 These are provisional figures. They are not available for individual non-metropolitan districts.