§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in the Christchurch constituency accept new NHS patients; and what the number was in March 1997. [135728]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 30 October 2000]The situation regarding which dental practices accept new national health service patients can change almost daily. In addition, practices sometimes restrict the category of patients they will accept, such as adult patients exempt from NHS charges or children. March 1997 data are not available, May 1997 data are given instead. The table shows the number of practices accepting all categories or certain categories of new NHS patient in the Christchurch constituency in May 1997 and October 2000.
Number of dental practices accepting new NHS patients in Christchurch constituency May 1997 October 2000 Practices accepting all categories of new NHS patients 2 4 Practices accepting certain categories of new NHS patients 4 4 Total number of practices accepting some new NHS patients 6 8