§ Mr. Burstow:To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 1 September 2003, Official Report, column 947W, concerning dental practices, how many dental practices there are in each primary care trust. [129442]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton[holding answer 16 September 2003]: Information on the number of dental practices in each primary care trust in England, as reported at 9 September 2003 on the www.nhs.uk website, has been placed in the Library. These figures are on the same basis as those given in my response of 1 September, although for a later date; they may show some differences from dental practice numbers reported by the Dental Practice Board.
The information also shows revised figures for practices accepting patients exempt from dental charges for registration and also children for registration, as at 3 October 2003.
57W
§ Mr. Alan Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of dental care services within the North Tyneside Primary Care Trust area; and what steps he is taking to improve access. [131318]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:In the recent performance ratings published by the Commission for Health Improvement, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT) scored significantly above average for their plans in place for access to National Health Service dentistry.
There are a number of initiatives already in place to enable PCTs to improve access to NHS dental services. This includes the general dental services incentives schemes, as well as a NHS team which will support PCTs where access is most challenging, providing advice and guidance on best practice in increasing access and modernising dentistry locally to tackle longstanding bottlenecks where it is hard to find a NHS dentist.
§ Dr. Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) dental practices and (b) dentists there were in each primary care trust in England in each of the past three years. [129593]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton:The available information for the number of practices and dentists providing general dental services (CDS) in each health authority (HA) for 2001 and 2002 and in each primary care trust (PCT) in 2003 has been placed in the Library. PCTs took over responsibility from HAs in October 2003.
These figures exclude salaried dentists working in the general dental service, dentists working in other national health service dental services, for example, community and personal dental services, hospital dental services and dentists who do no NHS work.
§ Mr. Andrew Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general dental practitioners were contracted to the national health service in each primary care trust area in England at the last date for which information is available (a) in total and (b) as full-time equivalents. [130663]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton[holding answer 18 September 2003]: Information on the number of general dental practitioners providing general dental services (GDS) on 30 June 2003, for each primary care trust area in England, has been placed in the Library.
Information on full-time equivalent numbers is not available. Dentists providing GDS are not required to work for a specified number of hours each week and they are free to decide how much national health service work they do.
§ Mr. Ben Chapman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the level of NHS dentists' charges for missed appointments. [128606]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton:As part of the arrangements for dentists' remuneration, their terms of service provide in paragraphs 34 and 19 of Schedule 1 to the NHS (General Dental Services) Regulations 1992 that dentists may claim from a patient for loss of remuneration resulting from the failure of a patient to keep an appointment for general dental services.
58WA claim must reflect actual financial loss and be proportional to that loss.
§ Mr. Hepburn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to increase the number of NHS dental practices in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) England. [128896]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton:Information on measures being taken to increase the number of national health service dental practices at local level is not held centrally. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill will enable primary care trusts (PCTs) to provide assistance and support to dental practices with which they contract.
To enable PCTs to provide such assistance in advance of 2005, the General Dental Services Incentive Schemes Directions 2003 have been published, together with guidance to PCTs. These will be backed by funds of £3 million in 2003–04 and £6 million in 2004–05 which were announced in implementation plans published on 12 August. PCTs will also have access to further funds of £35 million over these two years, which were announced on 18 September for NHS dentistry access, choice and quality.
§ Mr. Andrew Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people are registered with an NHS dentist in England and in each NHS region, strategic health authority area and primary care trust area thereof. [130662]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton[holding answer 18 September 2003]: At 30 June 2003, 23.4 million people, or 47.9 per cent. of the population, were registered with dentists providing general dental services. Information showing the percentage of population registered with a dentist in each strategic health authority area and primary care trust area by region, at 30 June 2003, has been placed in the Library.
Registrations are recorded in the primary care trust area of the dentist.
Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their dentist within the past 15 months. The figures also exclude patients who receive dental treatment from other national health service dental services, including dental access centres and those patients who choose not to register and who seek treatment on an occasional basis.