§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the level of demand for NHS dentistry in the next five years; [109828]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of dentists required to meet current demand for NHS treatment; [109855]
(3) what estimate he has made of the number of patients waiting to see an NHS dentist; [109866]
(4) what is the average waiting time to see an NHS dentist in Shropshire. [109835]
§ Mr. HuttonThe number of dentists in the General Dental Service in England at December 1999 (the latest date for which figures are available) was 17,746, an all time high and an increase of 480 from the previous year. Access problems are largely attributable to increases in the proportion of the time which dentists spend treating private patients and in the numbers of dentists working part-time. We therefore believe that we need to increase the level of dentists' commitment to the National Health Service. The Government will discuss with the profession a scheme to encourage and reward commitment to the NHS, paying out about £17 million a year.
Plans for the future direction and development of NHS Dentistry have been made taking into account past, present and future trends in registrations and demand for NHS dentistry. Information on the number of patients waiting to see a NHS dentist, or the length of waiting time for dental services in Shropshire, is not available centrally. For information on protocol for waiting times at the Shropshire Dental Access Centre, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 19 January 2000, Official Report, column 511W.