HC Deb 11 February 2004 vol 417 cc1536-9W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the(a) headcount and (b) whole-time equivalent figures are for dentists for each year since 1996 for (i) England, (ii) each NHS region and (iii) each strategic health authority. [150810]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The information on the number of national health service dentists on a headcount basis in each region of England and by strategic health authority (SHA) at September each year from 1996 to 2002 is shown in the table.

Information is not available on a whole-time equivalent (wte) basis because general dental service dentists are self employed dentists who do not work standard hours and who are able to vary their hours and their NHS commitment.

NHS dentists cover 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 working in more than one dental service are included in each service apart from dentists working in both PDS and GDS who are counted in the GDS only.

Information for 2003 on all NHS dentists is not yet available.

National Health Service: Number of dentists in England by region and Strategic Health Authority at September each year
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
North East London 575 568 579 605 632 673 626
North West London 935 947 1,012 992 1,000 998 978
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 584 594 616 635 655 645 688
Shropshire and Staffordshire 455 465 480 491 512 533 551
South East London 810 788 798 768 809 811 800
South West London 617 647 668 689 679 716 707
South West Peninsula 654 677 716 749 788 826 834
South Yorkshire 519 537 522 547 558 553 578
Surrey and Sussex 1,191 1,208 1,222 1,250 1,297 1,350 1,387
Thames Valley 832 875 902 971 989 1,029 1,069
Trent 839 854 886 933 942 941 990
West Yorkshire 824 860 876 868 854 898 924

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent NHS dentists there were per head of population(a) in total and (b) offering NHS treatment in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [151464]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The available information is for the number of national health service dentists (headcount) per 10,000 population and is shown in the table for September in each of the years 1997 to 2002.

NHS dentists cover dentists working in the general dental service (GDS), hospital dental service (HDS),

National health service: number of dentists per 10,000 population in England by strategic health authority for September each year
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
England 4.22 4.32 4.41 4.47 4.54 4.60
Strategic health authority
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 4.64 4.90 5.05 5.08 5.15 5.13
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 4.16 4.36 4.60 4.70 4.99 5.00
Birmingham and the Black Country 3.98 4.03 4.01 4.09 4.26 4.24
Cheshire and Merseyside; 4.42 4.53 4.63 4.65 4.71 4.95
County Durham and Tees Valley 3.61 3.72 3.71 3.72 3.85 4.02
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcester> 3.75 3.87 3.94 4.10 4.17 4.31
Cumbria and Lancashire 3.90 4.08 4.07 4.00 4.18 4.12
Dorset and Somerset 4.07 4.22 4.25 4.39 4.35 4.50
Essex 3.65 3.65 3.75 3.86 3.88 3.85
Greater Manchester 4.40 4.45 4.61 4.58 4.57 4.62
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 3.92 4.01 4.16 4.30 4.45 4.47
Kent and Medway 4.29 4.21 4.34 4.24 4.19 4.32
Leicester, Northants And Rutland 3.31 3.38 3.40 3.36 3.36 3.44
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 3.87 3.94 4.07 4.09 4.13 4.29
North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 3.64 3.69 3.80 3.92 4.10 4.13
North Central London 6.43 6.58 6.65 6.48 6.39 6.29
North East London 3.94 3.98 4.11 4.26 4.42 4.07
North West London 5.73 6.08 5.89 5.86 5.64 5.48
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 4.21 4.39 4.55 4.72 4.66 4.98
Shropshire and Staffordshire 3.15 3.24 3.31 3.45 3.58 3.69
South East London 5.44 5.48 5.23 5.47 5.36 5.28
South West London 5.19 5.33 5.46 5.35 5.51 5.42
South West Peninsula. 4.41 4.64 4.82 5.02 5.23 5.25
South Yorkshire 4.20 4.10 4.31 4.40 4.37 4.56
Surrey and Sussex 4.83 4.86 4.92 5.09 5.28 5.42
ThamesValley 4.26 4.37 4.67 4.74 4.90 5.09
Trent 3.34 3.45 3.63 3.65 3.59 3.75
West Yorkshire 4.16 4.23 4.20 4.13 4.31 4.42

Note:

Population data are based on 2001 census mid-year estimates.

community dental service (CDS), personal dental service (PDS) and salaried service of the GDS.

Dentists working in more than one dental service are included in each service, apart from dentists working in both PDS and GDS, who are counted in the GDS only. Information for 2003 is not yet available.

Information on a whole time equivalent basis is not available, as dentists working in the GDS are able to vary the amount of hours they work and to vary their NHS commitment. The majority of dentists working in the GDS do some NHS work.

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the gender breakdown of NHS dentists was in each year since 1997; and what the gender breakdown is of dentists in training. [151465]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The information in Table 1 shows the number of female and male national health service dentists on a head count basis for England at September each year from 1997 to 2003.

NHS dentists cover dentists working in the general dental service (GDS), hospital dental service (HDS),

Table 1: National health service—Number of dentists by gender at 30 September each year, England
General dental service Personal dental service Community dental service Hospital dental service Total
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
1997 4,640 12,088 881 498 683 1,505 6,204 14,091
1998 4,940 12,307 888 497 704 1,521 6,532 14,325
1999 5,224 12,497 44 39 876 492 709 1,539 6,853 14,567
2000 5,444 12,605 103 89 866 477 711 1,476 7,124 14,647
2001 5,670 12,684 273 194 877 471 730 1,454 7,550 14,803
2002 5,758 12,642 376 280 922 509 759 1,464 7,815 14,895
2003 5,930 12,607 467 335

Note:

PDS numbers exclude dentists who also work in the GDS. Female and male numbers for 1999 are estimated. PDS started in October 1998.

Source:

Dental Practice Board and Department of Health medical and workforce census.

Table 2: General dental service—Number of vocational dental practitioners by gender at 30 September each year, England
Gender 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
All dentists 532 563 584 612 658 589 576
Female 268 282 279 320 342 303 281
Male 264 281 305 292 316 286 295

Source:

Dental Practice Board.