§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the National Health Service (Dental Charges) Amendment Regulations. [109433]
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the population of Shropshire was registered with an NHS dentist in each of the last five years. [111664]
§ Mr. LammyAt 28 February 2003, 39.3 per cent. of the population for Shropshire County Primary Care Trust was registered with a general dental service (GDS) dentist. The information in the table shows the percentage of population registered with a dentist for Shropshire health authority area at 30 September for the years 1998 to 2001 and for 31 August 2002.224W
General Dental Service: Proportion of the population registered with a dentist 1998 to 2002—Shropshire health authority At 30 September Percentage of population registered with a CDS dentist 19981 44.4 19991 43.2 20001 42.7 20012 40.7 20023 41.4 11998–2000 ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 census. 22001 ONS mid year population estimates based on the 2001 census. 32002 data is at 31 August. Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their CDS dentist within the past 15 months. Also excluded from the figures are patients who receive dental treatment from other national health service dental services, including dental access centres.
Some of the reduction in recorded registration numbers is due to improvements in the methods of removing duplicate registration records, which were first employed by the Dental Practice Board in 1993.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are per head of population in Shropshire. [111665]
§ Mr. LammyThe number of national health service dentists working in Shropshire health authority area at 30 September 2001 and the number of dentists per 100,000 population is shown in the table. These figures are on a headcount rather than whole-time equivalent basis and take no account of part-time working. Dentists working in more than one dental service are included in each service, apart from dentists working in both the personal dental service and general dental service (GDS), who are counted in the GDS only.
Dentists working solely in private dentistry are not covered in these figures.
NHS dentists—Shropshire health authority area at 30 September 2001 Number of NHS dentists General dental service1 143 Salaried service of GDS 0 Personal dental service2 4 Community dental service3 20 Hospital dental service3 10 Total 177 Number of NHS dentists per 100,000 population4 40.1 1The General Dental Service (GDS) figure cover principals on a HA list, assistants and vocational dental practitioners. 2The Personal Dental Service (PDS) figure covers dentists working in the PDS who are not working in the GDS. 3Figures by Health Authority are rounded to the nearest 10. 4ONS mid year population estimates based on the 2001 census.