HC Deb 28 July 2000 vol 354 cc997-8W
Mr. Grogan

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were registered with the National Health Service in each of the last 10 years in the area covered by North Yorkshire Health Authority. [133423]

Ms Stuart

The number of dentists in the General Dental Service (GDS) in the North Yorkshire Health Authority area at 30 September in each of the years 1990 to 1999 is shown in the table.

General Dental Service: Number of dentists in North Yorkshire HA area
Year Number of dentists1
1990 241
1991 243
1992 235
1993 247
1994 248
1995 244
1996 264
1997 267
1998 278
1999 287
1 Dentists include principals on the HA or FHSA list, their assistants and vocational dental practitioners. Number at 30 September each year.

Note:

Before April 1996, the area was covered by North Yorkshire Family Health Services Authority (FHSA).

Mr. Grogan

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were registered with National Health Service dentists in each of the last 10 years in the area covered by the North Yorkshire Health Authority. [133422]

Ms Stuart

The number of recorded child and adult registrations in the General Dental Service (GDS) in the North Yorkshire Health Authority area is shown in the table at 31 March in each of the years 1993 to 2000. Data for March 1991 and 1992 are not comparable because registration numbers were building up following the introduction of the new dental contract in October 1990.

Changes in administration procedures by the Dental Practice Board throughout the period, in particular improvements in the removal of duplicate registrations, have acted to reduce recorded registration numbers.

Registration numbers from December 1997 are affected by the shortening of the registration period to 15 months. Previously the period was 24 months for adults while children's registrations expired at the end of the following calendar year if the patient had not visited their dentist in the meantime.

General Dental Service: Number of recorded adult and child registrations in North Yorkshire1 HA area at 31 March each year
Year Number of child registrations Number of adult registrations Total number of registrations
1993 103,593 342,713 446,306
1994 106,177 340,913 447,090
1995 105,595 328,538 434,133
1996 105,965 318,092 424,057
1997 106,307 312,061 418,368
1998 108,708 303,545 412,253
1999 110,282 288,037 398,319
2000 110,609 286,020 396,629
1 Area covered by North Yorkshire Family Health Services Authority (FHSA) before April 1996.