§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices providing national health service dental treatment there were in(a) the north-west of England and (b) London, in (i) 1996, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 1998; and what is the current figure. [82907]
§ Mr. DenhamThe number of General Dental Service (GDS) dentists on a health authority (HA) list at December 1998 and in December in the years 1996 and 1997 in the North and West region health area and in the Greater London HAs area are shown in the table.
General Dental Service: Number of dentists on a HA list at 31 December in each year from 1996 to 1998 inclusive North and West Greater London 1996 2,195 2,848 1997 2,209 2,946 1998 2,240 3,010 Note:
Dentists includes principals, assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of dental practices in(a) the north-west of England and (b) London, have (i) under 20 per cent., (ii)21–40 per cent.,(iii) 41–60 per cent., (iv) 61–80 per cent. and (v) 81–100 per cent. of the patients registered with them as national health service patients. [82906]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation about dentists' private patients is not available centrally. The registration arrangements which these private patients have with their dentist may vary greatly. However, information is available for the average list size of registered National Health Service patients of General Dental Service (GDS) dentists.
The average number of NHS patients registered per GDS principal dentist on a health authority (HA) list at 31 December 1998 was 1,481 in the North West region health area, 902 in the Greater London HAs area, and for England the corresponding average is 1,341. Dentists are 65W counted in each HA in which they practice and some dentists had no registrations on that date. Differences between these averages will reflect not only differences in the level of dentists' commitment to the GDS but also, other circumstances, for example the number of support staff.
§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the percentage of all dental treatment provided by the national health service in(a) the north-west of England and (b) London. [83018]
§ Mr. DenhamGross fee expenditure in the General Dental Service for the year 1998–99 in the North and West region health area was £202.5 million and the Greater London Health Authorities was £211.4 million. These represent 15 per cent. and 16 per cent. respectively of gross fee expenditure in England.