HC Deb 11 June 1997 vol 295 cc477-8W
Mr. Cann

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the level of wastage of qualified dentists from the general dental service in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the total costs of such wastage to the NHS budget; and if he will make a statement. [1891]

Mr. Milburn

We do not collect information on wastage. Dentists are independent contractors and as such are free to choose the amount of work they carry out for the National Health Service. Their level of commitment to the NHS may vary for a number of reasons driven by personal choice and circumstances, including part-time working, early retirement and varying balance between private and NHS work.

Mr. Cann

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made, by value or volume of individual treatments, of the increased amounts of private dentistry undertaken by general dental practitioners. [1893]

Mr. Milburn

Private dental work is a matter for the dentist and the patient customer. There is no Government funding and no detailed information on private dental treatment is centrally collected.

Some gross earnings information on dentists is collected from the Inland Revenue survey, solely to inform the Doctors and Dentists Review Body recommendations on gross fees by giving information on dentists' expenses. This can be used to get a broad indication of the amount of other earnings by general dental service dentists. The latest data are for 1994ߝ95, and indicate that there was an increase in the amount of earnings from sources outside the general dental service between 1992ߝ93 and 1994ߝ95.

Mr. Sanders

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long a national health service dental patient may remain on a dentist's patient list without seeking treatment; and if he will make a statement. [1917]

Mr. Milburn

This area is under review. The registration periods were changed with effect from last September and now stand at 15 months for adults and children.

The continuing care arrangement between the dentist and patient is normally rolled on for a further 15 months each time the patient attends that dentist. It is not necessary to receive treatment in order to extend the registration but if a patient does not attend, his or her registration will lapse. There is no charge for registering or re-registering with a dentist prepared to accept a patient.