§ Gillian MerronTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to tackle shortage of orthodontists in(a) Lincolnshire and (b) England; [42536]
(2) what the shortfall of NHS orthodontists is in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) England. [42535]
§ Ms BlearsThe number of orthodontists and the amount of orthodontic work in the General Dental Service has increased significantly since 1996–97 in both Lincolnshire and England as a whole. Additional clinics have been set up in Lincolnshire and by the end of March 2002, it is envisaged that there will be no over 26-week waits for orthodontic appointments in Lincolnshire. An additional consultant orthodontist post has been funded and concerted efforts are being made to recruit to this post.
The number of principal dentists performing 100 or more orthodontic claims a year in (a) Lincolnshire Health Authority (HA) and (b) England is shown in the table for the years 1996–97 and 2000–01 together with the number per 100,000 population.
The table also shows the number of orthodontic appliance claims in 1996–97 and 2000–01. These went up by 28 per cent. for Lincolnshire HA during the period shown, compared to an increase of 14 per cent. for England.
General Dental Service: Number of orthodontists, orthodontists per 100,000 population and total number of orthodontic appliance claims in 1996–97 and 2000–01 (a) Lincolnshire (b) England2 Number of orthodontists 1996–97 7 679 2000–01 10 869 Number of orthodontists1 per 100,000 population3 1996–97 1.1 1.4 2000–01 1.6 1.7 Number of orthodontic appliance claims 1996–97 1,200 217,000 2000–01 1,600 247,100 1 An orthodontist is defined as a principal dentist who submitted one hundred or more orthodontic claims in a year. 2 Some dentists have contracts in more than one Health Authority. These dentists have been counted only once, in the HA which they hold their main contract. 3 ONS 1996 and 2000 mid year population estimates based on the 1991 census.