NHS Dentists (Hansard, 25 November 2002)

§ Mr. Andrew Turner
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will rank the primary care trusts in order of the number of vacancies available on NHS dentists' lists at the last date for which information is available. [81673]

§ Mr. Lammy
Most general dental practitioners (GDPs) working in the national health service general dental services are self-employed and are free to choose and vary the number of patients they wish to register. Primary care trusts do not control patient registrations and there is no fixed limit for the number of patient registrations allowed per dentist. Furthermore, patients do not need to be registered to be seen by an NHS dentist.
It is therefore not possible to quantify the number of "vacancies" on dentists lists.
The number of GDPs continues to increase. There were 18,114 GDS practitioners on 30 June 2002, of which 16,181 were principal dentists. This compares to 18,004 and 16,167 respectively, 12 months earlier.

§ Mr. Andrew Turner
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio is of NHS general dental practitioners to population in each primary care trust area. [81674]

§ Mr. Lammy
Primary care trusts (PCTs) assumed responsibility for dentistry on 1 October 2002.
The ratios of national health service general dental practitioners to population in each PCT area are not yet available centrally.

§ Dr. Evan Harris
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists per head of population there were in(a) England and (b) each NHS region in each of the last six years. [81685]

§ Mr. Lammy
The number of national health service dentists per 100,000 population for England and for each NHS region for 1996 to 1997 is contained in table 1. The regional breakdown is different for 1998 to 2001 due to reorganisation and these figures are contained in table 2.
NHS dentists covers dentists working in the general dental service (GDS), hospital dental service (HDS), community dental service (CDS), personal dental service (PDS) and salaried service of the GDS. Dentists have been counted in each dental service in which they practise apart from dentists working in the PDS and GDS that are counted as GDS dentists only.
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These figures are on a headcount basis rather than a whole time equivalent (wte) basis and therefore take no account of part-time working.

Table 1: NHS dental services: numbers of dentists¹ per 100,000 population², 1996 to 1997— England

1996 1997

England 40.7 41.6

Northern and Yorkshire 39.6 39.1

Trent 36.9 35.1

Anglia and Oxford 37.1 38.6

North Thames 46.3 47.0

South Thames 46.4 48.2

South and West 43.0 42.5

West Midlands 33.8 36.4

North and West 39.2 42.1

¹Dentists are counted in each dental service in which they practice apart from dentists working in the PDS and GDS that are counted as GDS dentists only. ²ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 Census.

Table 2: NHS dental services: numbers of dentists¹ per 100,000 population²,— England

1998 1999 2000 2001

England 42.6 43.4 43.9 45.8

Northern and Yorkshire 39.9 40.3 40.8 43.0

Trent 35.5 36.9 37.2 37.7

West Midlands 37.2 37.6 38.6 40.6

North West 42.9 44.0 43.7 45.5

Eastern 39.5 40.5 41.4 43.2

London 53.0 52.9 52.7 55.4

South East 42.9 44.2 44.9 47.0

South and West 46.3 47.2 48.3 49.9

¹Dentists are counted in each dental service in which they practice apart from dentists working in the PDS and GDS that are counted as GDS dentists only.

² ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 Census

Table 1: NHS dental services: numbers of dentists¹ per 100,000 population², 1996 to 1997— England
	1996	1997
England	40.7	41.6
Northern and Yorkshire	39.6	39.1
Trent	36.9	35.1
Anglia and Oxford	37.1	38.6
North Thames	46.3	47.0
South Thames	46.4	48.2
South and West	43.0	42.5
West Midlands	33.8	36.4
North and West	39.2	42.1
¹Dentists are counted in each dental service in which they practice apart from dentists working in the PDS and GDS that are counted as GDS dentists only.	²ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 Census.

Table 2: NHS dental services: numbers of dentists¹ per 100,000 population²,— England
	1998	1999	2000	2001
England	42.6	43.4	43.9	45.8
Northern and Yorkshire	39.9	40.3	40.8	43.0
Trent	35.5	36.9	37.2	37.7
West Midlands	37.2	37.6	38.6	40.6
North West	42.9	44.0	43.7	45.5
Eastern	39.5	40.5	41.4	43.2
London	53.0	52.9	52.7	55.4
South East	42.9	44.2	44.9	47.0
South and West	46.3	47.2	48.3	49.9
¹Dentists are counted in each dental service in which they practice apart from dentists working in the PDS and GDS that are counted as GDS dentists only.
² ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 Census