§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (i) how many dentists in each regional health authority had registered no adult or child patients under the new contract by the end of February;
(2) how many dentists for each regional health authority had registered adult or child patients under the new contract by the end of February in the ranges (a) less than 100, (b) between 101 and 500, (c) between 501 and 1,000 and (d) over 1,001;
(3) how many dentists had registered patients under 18 years of age only, in total and in respect of each regional health authority, as at the end of February.
§ Mr. DorrellInformation is not available in the form requested. The table gives information regarding dentists' contracts, rather than individual dentists, as of 31 March 1991. Many dentists have more than one contract.
399W
Numbers of contracts with capitation and continuing care patients Region Total number of contracts None registered 1–499 registered 500–999 registered 1000+registered Capitation only South Western 1,551 122 506 330 593 26 West Midlands 1,909 152 610 470 677 15 Mersey 1,088 80 435 287 286 12 North Western 1,716 146 604 440 526 43 TOTAL 385 Source: Dental Practice Board.
§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists had registered adults who were exempt from charges by the end of February.
§ Mr. DorrellThe precise number of dentists who are accepting adults exempt from charges into continuing care arrangements under the new general dental services contract is not known. Recent information from family health services authorities suggests that the vast majority of dentists are doing so.
§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of estimates scheduled to dentists in respect of the categories(a) adults over 18 years and (b) children under 18 years for each of the five months from October 1990 to the end of February 1991.
§ Mr. DorrellInformation is not available in the form requested. Most treatment of children is now covered by capitation fees paid to dentists, and is not claimed by submitting estimates. The table sets out the total number of claims for remuneration for item-of-service treatment of adults. It does not include claims for continuing care payments where no item-of-service treatment has been provided.
Date .scheduled for payment Old contract New contract Adult Estimates (Item of Service) Child Estimates (Item of Service) Adults accepted into continuing care Adult Item of Service Entry payments for children before acceptance into capitation Child Item of Service Total number of children accepted into capitation October 1990 2,061,768 895,837 — 58,274 16,233 3,965 — November 1990 892,818 298,824 2,878,836 987,973 164,080 44,899 842,628 December 1990 411,261 122,800 2,267,407 1,485,230 250,962 69,185 938,317 January 1991 226,596 69,582 1,736,821 1,775,067 216,178 77,189 633,040 February 1991 140,816 47,911 1,617,834 1,701,166 227,495 88,374 713,169 Source: Dental Practice Board.