To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people in (a) Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust and (b) North Lancashire NHS Trust are registered with an NHS dentist. (152015)

Registration data no longer forms part of the data available under the new national health service dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. The new measure is patients seen in the previous 24 months and is not comparable to the registration data for earlier years.

The numbers of patients seen as a percentage of the population in the previous 24 months are available in table F2 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007” report. Information is for the previous 24 months ending 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 and is available at strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area in England.

This report is available in the Library. It is also available at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4.

As from 1 October 2006, Morecambe Bay PCT has been integrated into Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT. Information for Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT is included in the report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) North Lancashire NHS Trust and (b) Morecambe Bay have NHS patients. (152016)

Information on private dentists is not collected centrally.

The numbers of dentists on open national health service contracts are available in Table G of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007 report. Information is as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 and is available at strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area in England.

This report is available in the Library. It is also available at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4.

The figures for quarter 4 and the earlier quarters in the year are provisional and are subject to revision. The final workforce figure for 2006-07 will not be available until August 2007 when the Information Centre for health and social care will publish an end year report on the first 12 months of the new contractual arrangements.

In the figures in the report, no account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.

As from 1 October 2006, Morecambe Bay PCT has been integrated into Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT. Information for Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT is included in the above report.