HC Deb 18 March 1997 vol 292 c578W
23. Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to address the shortage of orthodontists in the north west. [19184]

Mr. Malone

Orthodontics is one of the priority areas for training additional specialist registrars in the year 1997–98, and as shown in the table, the number of specialist orthodontists in training has risen significantly in the last two years.

Numbers of orthodontic specialists in training
Whole time equivalent registrars Senior registrars
30 September 1994 (England and Wales) 50 28
30 September 1995 (England and Wales) 56 34
28 February 1996 (All UK) 85 42

For 1997–98 the standing workforce advisory group (SWAG) has recommended that not less than six and not more than 21 orthodontic specialist posts should be created.

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