§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of dentists accepting NHS patients in(a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36494]
§ Mr. MaloneThe available information is shown in the table.
General Dental Service: number of dentists who had additions to their register in Cheshire as a whole, and in Crewe and Nantwich; year ending 31 March 1992–1996 Number of dentists Cheshire Number of dentists Crewe and Nantwich 1992 352 36 1993 363 34 1994 357 31 1995 352 32 1996 354 29 Additions to the register include instances of patients registering with a dentist after a break in attendance and reinstatement of registrations that had been cancelled in error.
Some dentists have contracts in more than one area.
Counts relate to registrations for which payments were authorised during the year. Payments are made one month in arrears.