§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of female dentists on the(a) General Dental Council list and (b) health authority list practise in (i) the Government Dental Service full time and (ii) the Government Dental Practice Service for the NHS full time. [44409]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 21 March 2002]: Dentists on health authority lists are self-employed principal dentists. They do not have a standard working week and can vary their working hours.
In March 2000 the Office of Manpower Economics (OME) carried out a survey into the hours of work and workload of principal dentists taking any part in the General Dental Service (GDS) in Great Britain.
The survey found that 49 per cent. of female principals in the GDS considered themselves as carrying out dental work full-time. This would he equivalent to about 3,000 of the 6,122 female principals in the GDS in the UK at 31 December 2001. The survey found that about one quarter of full-time principals spent 100 per cent. of their time on GDS work. This would be equivalent to 780 female principals at December 2001.
10,194 female dentists were on the General Dental Council (GDC) Register at January 2002. The 3,000 principals estimated to be doing dental work full-time are equivalent to 29 per cent. of the females on the GDC register. The 780 principals estimated to be doing dental work full-time and spending 100 per cent. of their time in the GDS are equivalent to 8 per cent. of the females on the GDC register.