§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what changes have taken place, by health authority area, in the number of child dental registrations since June 1996; and what steps have been taken to encourage the registration of children up to five years of age with a general dental practice; [75441]
(2) what changes, by health authority area, have taken place in the number of dental registrations of (a) children and (b) adults since the introduction of the 15 month registration period. [75432]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 15 march 1999)Information on the number of child patients registered with a General Dental Service (GDS) dentist at 30 June 1996 and 31 January 1999 by health authority (HA) in England, together with the percentage changes, has been placed in the Library.
The comparisons between June 1996 and January 1999 are affected by the reduction in the registration period to 15 months for all new registrations from September 1996 and by a reduction in the number of duplicate entries. The introduction of the Personal Dental Service (PDS) in October 1998 will also have affected figures since some GDS practices which became PDS pilots transferred their patients into the PDS.
Dentists are given monthly payments for registering children, and for children up to 5-years old these payments are higher in deprived areas to encourage dentists to register more children in these areas of high oral health need.
§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, by health authority area, the number of dental practices(a) which accept all NHS patients, (b) whose NHS lists are closed, (c) which accept on NHS lists additional family members only and (d) which accept children for NHS treatment only if their parents are private patients. [75431]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 15 March 1999]The information requested is not available centrally. It is the responsibility of each health authority to be aware of the availability of dental services in their area.