§ Mr. Jonathan EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether Powys family health services authority has applied to his Department for authority to employ salaried dentists in the Builth Wells area;
(2) what action he is taking to secure the availability of national health service dental treatment for patients in areas of South Powys not covered by dentists in Brecon and Hay-on-Wye.
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§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe responsibility for administering NHS general dental services in South Powys rests with the Powys family health services authority. The authority applied to the Department on 5 May for permission to employ a salaried dentist in Builth Wells and the application is being given urgent and careful consideration. In the meantime, the authority is able to help any patient in its area experiencing difficulty in obtaining NHS dental treatment.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of dentists in Wales who have informed their local family health services authority that they will no longer treat NHS patients in each of the eight FHSAs since April 1992.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThis 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 1992, 29 general dental practitioners gave written notice to have their names removed from FHSA dental lists from 1 August 1992 to 23 April 1993. The figures are as follows, alongside the number of dentists joining the lists in the same period.
FHSA Number of dentists leaving dental lists as a direct result of new fee scale Number of dentists joining dental lists Clwyd 10 11 Dyfed 1 6 Gwent 10 17 Gwynedd 1 5 Mid Glamorgan 7 8 Powys 0 2 South Glamorgan 0 10 West Glamorgan 0 0 Total 29 59 The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many salaried dentists posts are currently vacant in Wales;
(2) how many salaried dentists posts he has approved since April 1992.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesApproval has been given for Dyfed and Gwynedd family health services authorities to employ a total of six whole-time-equivalent salaried dentists. Both authorities are in the process of identifying suitable applicants and premises.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of independent dentists carrying out NHS work in Wales in April 1992 and April 1993 in each of the eight FHSAs.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe information as at 31 March 1992 is given in the following table. Information as at 31 March 1993 is not yet available.
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General dental practitioners carrying out NHS work as at 31 March 1992 Number Clwyd 116 Dyfed 101 Gwent 134
Number Gwynedd 65 Mid Glamorgan 140 Powys 34 South Glamorgan 131 West Glamorgan 132 I will write to the hon. Member as soon as figures for 1993 become available.