§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list(a) the number and amount of dental payments made and (b) the number of registered dental patients in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 15 March 1993]: The number of claims made by dentists and the remuneration received by dentists in Scotland for the provision of NHS services as reflected in the total gross fees authorised for payments to dentists, which include the value of charges paid by patients, is shown in table 1 for the last five financial years. From October 1990 child patients could be registered with a dentist under capitation arrangements which cover most care and treatment. The figures for claims for dentists therefore exclude all treatment to children under capitation from October 1990 onwards. The figures for gross payments, however, include the cost of capitation patients. Formal arrangements for patients to be registered with a specific dentist were introduced under the new contract for general dental services on 1 October 1990. No information about registration is therefore available prior to October 1990. The number of adult and child patients registered since October 1990 is contained in table 2.
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TABLE 1 Claims by and payments to dentists in Scotland Year Number of Claims made by Dentists Gross Payment to Dentists £ million 1987–88 3,005,659 74.659 1988–89 3,105,882 85.352 1989–90 3,080,703 94.393 1990–91 2,725,812 111.463 1991–92 2,484,539 132.822
TABLE 2 Number of Patients registered with a dentist in Scotland December 1990 December 1991 December 1992 Children 292,769 662,809 732,605 Adults 819,906 1,802,135 1,996,171 Total 1,112,675 2,464,944 2,728,776
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average cost of dental treatment in(a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland as a whole for the latest year for which figures are accessible.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer .15 March 1993]: The average cost of a course of dental treatment in each of the health board areas within Strathclyde region and the average cost in Scotland as a whole for 1991–92 is contained in the table. The average cost is based on the cost of all adult treatments and certain treatments provided for children outside capitation arrangements, and includes the value of charges paid by patients. The cost of the majority of treatment provided to children which is under capitation arrangements is not included in the table as under capitation children do not have individual courses of treatment but receive all care and treatment needed on a continuing basis, for which dentists are paid regular standard payments. Information for individual local government regions is not available.
Average cost per course of dental treatment in Scotland: 1991–92 Health Board Average cost per course of dental treatment 1991–92 (£) Argyll and Clyde 43 Ayrshire and Arran 40 Greater Glasgow 49 Lanarkshire 44 All Scotland 40