HC Deb 31 March 2004 vol 419 cc1512-4W
Mr. Watts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average income is of(a) NHS and (b) private sector dentists. [158180]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The average gross fee income of a general dental service (GDS) dentist for national health service work in 2002–03 was £98,000 in England. Gross fee income of a NHS dentist includes both their personal remuneration as well as business expenses such as staff salaries, laboratory charges and dental consumables.

The income distribution is very wide reflecting the large differences in the amount of GDS work done by individual dentists. Principal GDS dentists do not have a standard working week. They are self employed and choose the amount of GDS work they do. Most dentists will have other income either from private dentistry or from other NHS work. Almost one-quarter of GDS dentists had gross fee income of less than £40,000 in 2002–03; these dentists will have spent only a small proportion of their week doing GDS work.

To produce an income estimate for dentists with a reasonable commitment to the GDS, dentists with gross fee income of less than £55,600 may be excluded. This gives average gross fee income for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment of £137,000 in 2002–03. The excluded dentists with gross fee income of less than £55,600 will have spent about two days a week or less doing GDS work.

Taking into account estimated expenses, average net fee income of a GDS dentist with a reasonable GDS commitment was around £61,000 in 2002–03. The average GDS net fee income for all dentists including the lowest GDS earners was about £43,000 in 2002–03.

In addition dentists receive other payments such as commitment payments which increase average net income by about £2,000 in 2002–03. So total net income from the GDS averaged about £63,000 for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment whilst the average net income from the GDS for all dentists including the low GDS earners was about £45,000.

Income of dentists working solely privately is not available. Inland Revenue information for 2001–02 shows that for GDS dentists' average gross income for all self employed work in Great Britain was 163,000 gross or 71,000 net of expenses. This average covers both full-time and part-time dentists.

Mrs. Dean

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio of dentists to population is in each of the primary care trusts in England. [162018]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Hepburn

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in(a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) England are not registered with a dentist. [162871]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The following table shows the total population, the number of people registered with a dentist under general dental service (GDS) arrangements and, by deduction, the numbers who are not so registered for South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, the North East and England. Jarrow constituency is covered by South Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Number of people not registered with a general dental service (GDS) dentist at 31 January 2004
South Tyneside1 Tyne and Wear2 North East3 England
Registered GDS patients 86,000 578,000 1,122,000 22,849,000
Population 153,000 1,076,000 2,513,000 48,968,000
Difference 67,000 498,000 1,391,000 26,119,000
1 Figures cover South Tyneside PCT.
2 Figures represent the following PCTs: Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland Teaching.
3 The North East is covered by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and County Durham and Tees Valley SNA.

Registrations under GDS arrangements cover patients who have been to a general dental service dentist within the past 15 months. They exclude patients who choose to attend occasionally or who have not been to a dentist during the past fifteen months. Patients are able to receive dental treatment without the need for registration from other national health service dental services such as dental access centres, through personal dental services or community dental services. Registrations are included in the area of the dentist. Patients may choose to have their dental services in a different PCT area from the one in which they live.