HC Deb 23 June 1992 vol 210 cc156-7W
Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide annual statistics on the number of dental practitioners in the Wirral and the volume of treatments they have given for the last five years, broken down into the standard categories used by her department.

Dr. Mawhinney

The information requested is shown in the table:

Wirral family health services authority
Financial year Number of dentists Number of courses of treatment
Children Adults All patients
1987–88 113 79,280 164,940 244,220
1988–89 117 80,810 173,620 254,430
1989–90 125 76,935 165,559 242,494
1990–91 130 60,381 162,284 222,665
1991–92 136 24,651 178,510 203,161

Notes:

1. The number of dentists includes principals and assistants as at 30 September in each year.

2. The apparent decline in the number of courses of treatment provided for children is misleading. Under the new general dental service contract introduced in October 1990, most child treatment is undertaken under capitation and, as such, these courses of treatment cannot be separately identified or counted.

Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide the latest statistics on the level of dental health amongst the population of the Wirral.

Dr. Mawhinney

Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The most recent surveys, co-ordinated by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD), (in 1989–90 and 1988–89 respectively) showed that five and 12-year-olds in Wirral health authority had respectively 2.25 and 1.77 decayed, missing or filled teeth. Wirral ranked 151st in a list of 178 health authorities for five-year-olds and 115th in a list of 154 for 12-year-olds.

Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long waiting lists for orthodontic treatment in the Wirral are currently; and what the waiting list has been in each of the last five years.

Mr. Sackville

There were no patients waiting for orthodontic treatment with Wirral Hospital NHS Trust at 30 September 1991. Wirral district health authority had no patients waiting for this treatment at 30 September in each of the last five years. (Source: KH07 returns).

Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the actual earnings of dentists have been(a) in the Wirral and (b) nationally in each of the past five years; and how this earnings information is calculated within the existing payments system.

Dr. Mawhinney

The information requested is shown in the table:

Average gross fee earnings per dentist (£)
Financial Year Wirral England and Wales
1987–88 55,052 55,971
1988–89 61,210 64,377
1989–90 60,681 64,008
1990–91 66,090 70,410
1991–92 84,906 84,833

These averages relate only to earnings through fees and to dentists in the dental rates study group population. They exclude maternity payments, sickness payments, postgraduate education allowances, reimbursed business rates and other such allowances, and they relate only to those dentists who, for the year in question, were in contract for the complete financial year.

Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have ceased to practise in the national health service by switching exclusively to private work since 1979.

Dr. Mawhinney

The information requested is not available. There are currently 29 per cent. more dentists practising in the general dental services in England than there were in 1979.

Ms. Eagle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the dental treatments given on the national health service in the last financial year cost over(a) £200 and (b) £600, expressed as both a number and a percentage of the total treatments administered.

Dr. Mawhinney

Data for 1991–92 are not yet available. The information for England and Wales in the calendar year 1991 is shown in the table:

Cost of treatment Number of treatments Percentage of total number
Greater than £200 625,960 2.2
Greater than £600 38,178 0.1

Note: Figures are provided by the Dental Practice Board.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were(a) the numbers employed by and (b) the total operational cost of the Dental Practices Board and its predecessors over the last three financial years together with an estimate of (b) for the current year.

Dr. Mawhinney

The information requested is as follows:

Year 1Staff Cost (£ million)
1989–90 1,268 16.8
1990.91 1,220 21.2
1991–92 1,126 22.6
1 Average number of whole time equivalents.

The present budget allocation for 1992–93 is £24.1 million. We are at present discussing with the board the implications of any additional work that might fall to them from proposed amendments to the level at which dentists should seek prior approval from the board for courses of treatment to be undertaken. The costs of the Dental Practice Board are shared between the Department of Health and the Welsh Office on a proportional basis.