§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients were registered with NHS dental practices in(a) 1980, (b) 1985, (c) 1990 and (d) 1995, showing this as a percentage of the population of Scotland. [17986]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonRegistration of patients with a dentist was introduced in October 1990. Patients are registered with an individual dentist, not a dental practice. The information requested is in the table.
Patients registered with general dental practitioners in Scotland Year1 Number of registered patients at 31 December Registered patients as a percentage of population 1990 812,057 15.9 1995 2,649,100 51.7 1 Registration was introduced only from October 1990.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dental practices in Scotland have accepted new NHS patients in 1993, 1994 and 1995. [17987]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonNo information is held on dental practices. General dental practitioners are independent contractors who are free to decide whether to offer NHS treatment to each individual patient. The table shows the number of individual dentists who accepted new NHS patients or NHS patients on referral during each of the years in question.
General dental practitioners in Scotland who accepted new or referred NHS patients Dentists 1993 1,749 1994 1,773 1995 1,799