§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists are now contracted for national health service work; and how many of them handle only children and exempt categories for national health service work. [1361]
§ Mr. MaloneThe information is contained in the following table:
General dental service: number of dentists1. 3. 4 who have received payment for national health service treatment from May 1996 to October 1996, and the number 3. 4 receiving no payment for treatment involving a patient charge England Number of dentists 1 who received payment May-October 1996 Number of dentists 2.3.4 who received no payment for treatment attracting a patient charge May 1996-October 1996 15,738 658 1 This is the number of dentists who received a payment schedule in respect of an adult or child patient in the last six months rather than the number who have carried out NHS treatment during this time. 2 There are a small number of treatments which do not attract a patient charge even for charge payers. 3 The above figures exclude dentists whose payment schedule was either nil or negative. 4 The number of dentists in this column includes orthodontists whose practices focus solely on children. Salaried dentists are excluded.