To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have used the facilities of the General Dentistry Service in Gloucestershire in each year since its inception. [109404]
The information available is for the number of adult courses of treatment carried out by the general dental service in Gloucestershire Family Health Service Authority and Gloucestershire Health Authority for the years ending March 1992 to 2002. This data is shown in the table.
| General Dental Service: Number of adult courses of treatment, year ending March 1992–2002—Gloucestershire Family Health Service Authority/Health Authority | |
| Thousands | |
| Year ending March | Number of claims |
| 1992 | 358 |
| 1993 | 350 |
| 1994 | 261 |
| 1995 | 244 |
| 1996 | 234 |
| 1997 | 222 |
| 1998 | 215 |
| 1999 | 219 |
| 2000 | 219 |
| 2001 | 210 |
| 2002 | 203 |
Note:
A course of treatment may involve one or more visits to the dentist. A patient may have several courses in a single year. This information is not available for previous years. Figures for children are not given because courses pf treatment for children exclude courses where a payment claim is not required.
National Health Service dental services are also provided by the community dental service and the personal dental services.