§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists have given written notice to each family health services authority to remove their names from the dental list in each week since 8 July; and what is the total for this period.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information is not available centrally in the form requested. Fortnightly returns from family health services authorities in Wales indicate that, as a direct result of the new fee scale introduced on 8 July, 21 general dental practitioners gave written notice to have their names removed from dental lists from 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992, while 26 new dentists joined the dental lists during that period. The figures on a fortnightly basis are as follows:
Fortnight ending Number of Dentists leaving Dental list Number of Dentists joining Dental list 14 August 1992 1 5 28 August 0 1 11 September 5 3 25 September 7 4 9 October 1 1 23 October 2 1 6 November 3 4 20 November 1 3 4 December 1 4 Totals 21 26
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have reported to each family health services authority that they have been unable to arrange national health service dental treatment in each week since 8 July.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information is not held centrally. The family health service authorities are responsible for directing patients to the community dental service in its "safety net" capacity.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family health services authorities have been unable to provide emergency dental services in each week since 8 July.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesIt is the responsibility of general dental practitioners to ensure that emergency treatment is available for those patients registered with them. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales for the period from 1 August to date indicate that only Gwynedd FHSA has been unable to provide out-of-hours emergency dental services for unregistered patients in each fortnight since 1 August 1992. The community dental services act as a safety net for unregistered patients needing emergency dental treatment within normal hours. Discussions are now taking place between Gwynedd family health services authority and Gwynedd health authority with a view to providing a weekend emergency service in Bangor for those patients not registered with a general dental practitioner.
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§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists who have not given notice to leave the dental list have given written notice to each family health services authority to terminate or deregister some or all of their capitation arrangements for child patients in each week since 8 July; how many dentists have deregistered patients; and how many patients have been deregistered.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales can be summarised as in the tables for the period 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992.
Fortnight ending Number of capitation patients de-registered Number of dentists 14 August 1992 3 2 28 August 1992 3 1 11 September 1992 — — 25 September 1992 — — 9 October 1992 — 23 October 1992 2 1 6 November 1992 6 2 20 November 1992 1 1 4 December 1992 — — The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family health services authorities have referred patients who have been unable to obtain treatment from a general dental practitioner, to(a) the community dental service, (b) the hospital dental service and (c) a salaried dentist in each week since July.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns from family health services authorities indicate that all FHSAs in Wales have referred patients to either the community or hospital dental services at some stage between 1 August 1992 and 4 December 1992.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the family health services authorities which have(a) held no dental services committee meeting and (b) cancelled a meeting in each months since July.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesDental services committee meetings are only held when there are sufficient cases to be considered. Meetings may not therefore be required on a regular monthly basis. Information as to the frequency of FHSA service committee meetings is not held centrally.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have contacted each family health services authority asking for help in finding a dentist in each week since 8 July.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesAccordingly to the fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales the information requested is as follows:
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Fortnight ending Patients 14 August 1992 742 28 August 1992 754 11 September 1992 715
Fortnight ending Patients 25 September 1992 644 9 October 1992 681 23 October 1992 673 6 November 1992 714 20 November 1992 632 4 December 1992 569 The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists who have not given notice to leave the dental list have given written notice to each family health services authority to deregister some or all of their continuing care arrangements for adult patients in each week since 8 July; how many dentists have deregistered patients; and how many patients have been deregistered.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities can be summarised as in the following table for the period 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992.
Fortnight ending Number of continuing care patients de-registered Number of dentists de-registering continuing care patients 14 August 1992 3 4 28 August 1992 4,003 5 11 September 1992 1,781 6 25 September 1992 238 8 9 October 1992 212 7 23 October 1992 1,112 9 6 November 1992 183 9 20 November 1992 42 2 4 December 1992 438 8 The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.