§ David TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the access to NHS dental treatment for the residents of north-west Leicestershire; and if he will make a statement. [43745]
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§ Yvette CooperFigures are not collected by constituency but as of 31 January 2002, General Dental Service registration rates for Leicestershire were: adults—45 per cent. (England 43 per cent.); children—63 per cent. (England 60 per cent.).
NHS dentistry registrations were 463,074—up 3,666 on the previous year. Ninety eight per cent. of the population was within a five mile (urban) or 10 mile (rural) radius of dentists accepting new patients. Everyone was within 15 miles of an NHS dentist.
The number of GDS dentists in Leicestershire as of 31 December 2001 was 284 compared with 282 the previous year.
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance he is giving to support NHS dentistry in Dorset. [43752]
§ Ms BlearsIn 2000–01, Dorset Health Authority (HA) was awarded £110,000 from the Dental Care Development Fund. In 2001–02, the HA allocation for the Modernisation Fund was £458,900. The HA has also been allocated £37,000 from the Dentistry Action Plan Fund.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of dentists on health authority lists practise full time in the NHS; [44410]
(2) what percentage of dentists on the Government Dental Council register (a) practise in the General Dental Service full time in the UK and (b) practise in the General Dental Service full time for the NHS in the UK. [44412]
(3) what percentage of dentists on the General Dental Council who qualified outside the United Kingdom and who have been on the Health Authority General Dental Service lists within the last 10 years are no longer on the Health Authority lists; [44405]
(4) what percentage of dentists on the General Dental Council Register who qualified outside the United Kingdom and who are on the Health Authority General Dental Service lists have been on these lists for over five years; [44406]
(5) what the ratio is of new dentists who have qualified from UK dental schools to dentists who are drawing their NHS pension; and if he will list this ratio for each of the previous 20 years; [44408]
(6) what percentage of dentists on the General Dental Council Register qualified outside the United Kingdom; and of this number, what percentage are on the Health Authority General Dental Service lists; [44407]
(7) what the ratio was of male to female new dental graduates from UK dental schools (a) last year and (b) for each of the previous 20 years. [44411]
§ 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.
The Office of Manpower Economics carried out a survey of principal dentists in Great Britain in March 2000. They reported that 81 per cent. of dentists describe themselves as full-time and 19 per cent. are part-time. 912W Twenty per cent. of all principal dentists are both full-time and also work fully in the NHS. A further 5 per cent. are part-time and work fully in the NHS.
Dentists who work as assistants and vocational dental practitioners are not covered by this result because Health Authorities are not required to hold lists for them.
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 81 per cent of principals in the GDS considered themselves as carrying out dental work full-time. This would be equivalent to about 16,158 of the 19,948 principals in the GDS in the UK at 31 December 2001. The survey found that one quarter of full-time principals spent 100 per cent. of their time on GDS work. This would be equivalent to 4,040 principals at December 2001.
Thirty one thousand five hundred and seventy seven dentists were on the General Dental Council (GDC) Register at 1 January 2002. Sixteen thousand one hundred and fifty eight principals estimated to be doing dental work full-time are equivalent to 51 per cent. of the GDC total. The 4,040 principals estimated to be doing dental work full-time and spending 100 per cent. of their time in the GDS are equivalent to 13 per cent. of the GDC total.
These percentages will exclude dentists working part-time or as assistants or vocational dental practitioners or dentists working in other dental services and dentists not working.
Forty four per cent. of principal dentists who qualified outside the United Kingdom and have worked in the General Dental Service (GDS) in England within the last 10 years were not on a health authority list at 31 December 2001.
Dentists who work as assistants and vocational dental practitioners are not covered by this result because health authorities are not required to hold lists for them.
Ninety one per cent. of principal dentists on a Health Authority list who qualified outside the United Kingdom have worked in the General Dental Service (GDS) in England for more than five years as at 31 December 2001.
Dentists who work as assistants and vocational dental practitioners are not covered by this result because Health Authorities are not required to hold lists for them.
The ratio of students obtaining their first registrable dental qualification from UK dental schools to the number of dentists retiring from the General Dental Service for each of the years 1983 to 2000 is shown in the table.
The retirement information is from Pension Agency records. The date of retirement may be the actual date of retirement or the date a pension was awarded or the last date on the Agency's computer systems. Some 913W retiring dentists may not have held a General Dental Service (GDS) post on retirement e.g. they may have retired from a consultant post.
Ratio of students obtaining their first registerable dental qualification to the number of retirements from the General
Dental Service, 1983 to 2000
United Kingdom Year Number of qualifiers1 Number of retirements Ratio of qualifiers to retirements 1983 811 103 7.9 1984 887 127 7.0 1985 845 286 3.0 1986 748 332 2.3 1987 729 385 1.9 1988 807 345 2.3 1989 771 376 2.1 1990 759 348 2.2 1991 795 399 2.0 1992 744 433 1.7 1993 783 532 1.5 1994 730 360 2.0 1995 649 366 1.8 1996 650 329 2.0 1997 722 358 2.0 1998 768 327 2.3 1999 782 321 2.4 2000 808 306 2.6 Notes:
1 The number of qualifiers between 1983 and 1989 were recorded on a slightly different basis to later data.
Sources:
Higher Education Funding Council for England and Pensions Agency.
Fifteen per cent. or 4,643 of the 31,577 dentists registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) at 1 January 2002 qualified from dental schools outside the United Kingdom.
At 31 December 2001 2,094 dentists who had qualified outside the UK were on health authority lists in the General Dental Service (GDS) in England. This represents 45 per cent. of the 4,643 dentists who had qualified outside the UK who were registered with the GDC as of 1 January 2002. Health authority lists cover principal dentists only and exclude assistant dentists and vocational dental practitioners working in the GDS.
Information on the number of dentists who had qualified outside the UK and are practising in the GDS in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland can be obtained from the relevant devolved administrations.
The number of male and female students who have obtained their first registrable dental qualification from UK dental schools is shown in the table for each of the academic years 1989–90 to 2000–01. Also shown is the ratio of male to female graduates.
The information is not available for the years before 1989–90.
914W
Number and ratio of male and female dental qualifiers, 1989–90 to 2000–01 United Kingdom Number of dental qualifiers Ratio of male to female dental qualifiers Academic year Male Female 1989–90 429 330 1.3
Number and ratio of male and female dental qualifiers, 1989–90 to 2000–01 United Kingdom Number of dental qualifiers Ratio of male to female dental qualifiers Academic year Male Female 1990–91 440 355 1.2 1991–92 437 307 1.4 1992–93 437 346 1.3 1993–94 396 334 1.2 1994–95 328 321 1.0 1995–96 348 302 1.2 1996–97 356 366 1.0 1997–98 385 383 1.0 1998–99 394 388 1.0 1999–2000 364 444 0.8 2000–01 384 431 0.9 Source:
Higher Education Funding Council for England
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of dentists registered on the General Dental Council are(a) resident in the UK and (b) registered at an address in the UK. [44413]
§ Ms Blears[holding 21 March 2002]: No information is available on the place of residence of dentists registered with the General Dental Council (GDC).
The country of the registered address of dentists on the GDC register at 1 January 2002 is shown in the table.
Dentists registered with the General Dental Council as of 1 January 2002: Country of registered address Country Number of dentists Percentage of registered dentists England1 24,523 78 Scotland 2,761 9 Wales 1,301 4 Northern Ireland 1,058 3 UK total 29,643 94 Overseas 1,934 6 Total 31,577 100 1 England figures include dentists registered at addresses in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands