§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the total number of patients in Scotland registered with a dentist; and what was the number of patients that ceased to be registered with a dentist for each financial year since 1985–86; [15539]
(2) if he will list for each health board area in Scotland the number of patients registered with a dentist and the number of patients who ceased to be registered with a dentist for each financial year since 1985–86. [15540]
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 23 March 1995]: Registration of patients with a dentist was introduced in October 1990. Patients may cease to be registered with a dentist for a number of reasons, including lapse of registration owing to non-attendance, transfer to another dentist, agreement between patient and dentist to enter private arrangements, or decision by a dentist no longer to provide NHS treatment to a patient. Patients whose registration lapses may subsequently register with the same or another dentist and cannot be separately identified. The information available is shown in the tables.
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Table 1: Dental patients registered at 31 March—by health board in Scotland Financial year Health board 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 Scotland 1,710,947 2,502,684 2,548,095 2,514,816 Argyll and Clyde 146,481 213,990 212,219 207,647 Ayrshire and Arran 170,743 221,072 200,998 198,376 Borders 38,118 52,771 53,897 53,238 Dumfries and Galloway 50,535 74,290 71,220 68,292 Fife 116,263 167,285 171,475 170,690 Forth Valley 84,505 129,146 133,441 131,571 Grampian 175,734 246,479 259,362 260,173 Greater Glasgow 296,476 458,557 474,592 464,351 Highland 69,124 102,894 99,161 92,670 Lanarkshire 150,452 233,418 242,743 240,001 Lothian 252,816 374,659 389,764 385,702 Orkney 3,535 5,525 7,267 7,961 Shetland 4,710 7,034 7,004 7,823 Tayside 146,881 207,270 216,441 217,565 Western Isles 4,574 8,294 8,511 8,756
Table 2: Dental patient registrations ended prematurely1—by health board in Scotland Financial year Health board 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 Scotland 2n/a 3,027 11,336 15,391 Argyll and Clyde n/a 338 1,208 426 Ayrshire and Arran n/a 236 1,264 1,050 Borders n/a 69 286 1,531 Dumfries and Galloway n/a 92 3,791 3,025 Fife n/a 133 217 1,172 Forth Valley n/a 156 298 301 Grampian n/a 227 719 335 Greater Glasgow n/a 563 475 1,500 Highland n/a 255 132 2,393 Lanarkshire n/a 170 563 340 Lothian n/a 474 2,216 3,178 Orkney n/a 66 2 0 Shetland n/a 16 0 5 Tayside n/a 273 165 128 Western Isles n/a 4 0 7 1 Registrations ended prematurely either by dentist without patient's agreement, or by agreement between dentist and patient. This does not include registrations which lapse because the patient does not re-attend during the registration, or registrations which end automatically when the patient registers with another dentist. 2 n/a = not available.