§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists, in number and as a percentage of the whole, in England have stopped providing national health service treatment for(a) adult patients, (b) patients under 18 years and (c) all patients, since the introduction of the dentists' latest contract.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThis information is not collected centrally. Since the introduction of the new contract 20.3 million adults and 6.6 million children have registered with national health service dentists. Patient registrations are continuing to increase.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish details of any schemes currently available to national health service dentists to provide for future investment in computer technology.
§ Dr. MawhinneyA one-off payment of £900 is made to dental practices transmitting their claims for payment of 57W NHS fees by computer to the Dental Practice Board at Eastbourne. This scheme was launched last year, and over 230 payments have been made so far.
Additionally, these and other practice expenses are taken into account by the Dental Rates Study Group when it conducts its annual fee-setting exercise.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she proposes to take to consult the dental profession about the effect the new contract has had on the practice of dentistry within the national health service;
(2) what assessment she has made of the level of morale of dentists currently working in the national health service.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe principles of the new dental contract are firmly established. For the first time, dentists are encouraged to carry out preventive dentistry, and to provide all-round continuing care. We continue to discuss with the profession ways in which the contract may be improved and several changes have already been made. Over 25 million patients are now registered with dentists in England. This is a true measure of the contract's success. There are currently 27 per cent. more dentists than there were in 1979 and available evidence shows that dentists are taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by the new contract.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will review the system of capitation as a method of remuneration for dental treatment of children with the national health service.
§ Dr. MawhinneyWe have already announced our intention to undertake a fundamental review of the entire dental remuneration system.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has undertaken any surveys of the impact that the introduction of child capitation has had on the number of national health service dentists prepared to treat children.
§ Dr. MawhinneyLast September, family health services authorities conducted on our behalf a sample survey of 20 per cent. of dentists on their dental lists. The results of that survey showed that 85 per cent. of dentists are accepting all children for NHS treatment. Precise comparisons with the position prior to the introduction of capitation are difficult, but available information points to approximately the same number of children being treated under both systems.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies have been made of the number of dentists leaving the national health service; and if she will publish any available findings.
§ Dr. MawhinneySince the introduction of the new dental contract in October 1990, there have been unfounded allegations that large numbers of dentists are leaving the NHS. This is not the case. Very few dentists have resigned from family health services authority lists since October 1990.
There are currently 15,451 dentists providing general dental services in England, 27 per cent. more than in 1979.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish the number of dental practices which have gone bankrupt over the last six years.
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§ Dr. MawhinneyInformation on the number of bankruptcies among dentists has been held centrally only since April 1991. Since then, the Dental practice Board (DPB) has received notices of bankruptcy in respect of five dentists. Two of these were in practice together.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish details about the new fee structure to be implemented from 1 July, indicating when the notices detailing the change in maximum charges that can be made from 1 April are to be made available to dental practitioners.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe Dental Rates Study Group recommends what dentists' fees should be. The study group is due to meet shortly, and the new fee scale listing dentists' fees for 1992–93 will be available when it has completed its work. The new scale of fees will not change the present maximum charge. Once the new scale rates have been established, we intend to let dentists have posters for display which will allow them to show both relevant sections from the scale of fees and the current maximum charge.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were involved in NHS practice for each year since 1979.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe number of dentists practising in the general dental services in England is as shown.
Year to Number of Dentists 30 September 1979 12,146 30 September 1980 12,415 30 September 1981 12,835 30 September 1982 13,258 30 September 1983 13,672 30 September 1984 14,066 30 September 1985 14,334 30 September 1986 14,516 30 September 1987 14,765 30 September 1988 15,070 30 September 1989 15,351 30 September 1990 15,480 30 September 1991 15,451
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been treated by dentists in the NHS each year since 1979.
§ Dr. MawhinneyInformation is collected centrally on the number of courses of treatment provided, rather than the number of people treated. This is set out in the table.
Number of courses of treatment Year All ages Adults 1979 27,164,610 17,351,250 1980 28,613,630 18,599,830 1981 29,035,190 18,975,130 1982 29,926,290 19,724,540 1983 30,505,470 20,316,210 1984 30,970,830 20,864,560 1985 31,386,100 21,338,100 11986–87 32,103,110 21,961,680 1987–88 32,418,940 22,394,600 1988–89 34,257,830 24,026,520 1989–90 32,746,110 22,809,160 2 1990–91 N/A 22,559,000 1991–92 N/A 24,273,099 1 From 1986–87, data were provided by financial year. Prior to this data was provided by calendar year.
59W2 Since the introduction of the new contract on I October 1990 the figures available relate to adult only courses of treatment. Under the new contract dentists are paid under a capitation system for treating children and courses of treatment for children are no longer counted separately.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what charges were made for NHS dental treatment for each year since 1979 at 1992 prices; and what was the percentage increase or decrease in treatment costs compared with the previous year, for each year since 1979.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe information requested is shown in the table.
General Dental Services (England) Income from charges at 1992–931 prices £ million Number of courses of adult treatment Cost2 £ Percentage difference 1979–80 170 17,351,250 239,048,060 — 1980–81 189 18,599,830 313,930,820 31.33 1981–82 215 18,975,130 367,822,590 17.17 1982–83 246 19,724,540 417,283,510 13.45 1983–84 259 20,316,210 453,517,990 8.68 1984–85 272 20,864,560 502,246,300 10.74 1985–86 295 21,338,100 529,015,450 5.33 1986–87 322 21,961,680 595,397,970 12.55 1987–88 332 22,394,600 658,540,620 10.61 1988–89 375 24,026,520 764,593,130 16.10 1989–90 443 22,809,160 759,525,390 -0.66 1990–91 425 22,559,000 838,870,088 10.45 1991–92 421 24,273,099 876,443,488 4.48 Notes: From 1986–87 data were provided by financial year. Before then data were provided by calendar year. 1 Using the GDP deflator. 2 Figures used are actual amounts paid.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set out the changes to the financing of NHS dentistry showing net gain or loss to the Exchequer for each year since 1979.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe information requested is shown in the table.
General Dental Services (England) (Cash £ million) Years Gross Expenditure Income from Charges Net Expenditure 1979–80 336 70 266 1980–81 419 92 327 1981–82 481 115 366 1982–83 538 141 397 1983–84 584 155 429 1984–85 640 171 469 1985–86 660 196 464 1986–87 742 221 521 1987–88 820 240 580 1988–89 950 291 659 1989–90 948 366 582 1990–91 1,040 380 660 1991–92 1,247 403 1 844 1 provisional estimate.