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NHS: Dentistry

Volume 686: debated on Tuesday 7 November 2006

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many people in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and each region of England were registered with a dentist in 1990; 1995; 2000; and 2005; and what those figures are as a percentage of the population in each case.[HL7901]

The data supplied for England are at 30 September each year based on the National Health Service registration periods which applied in each year. The figures for 2000 and 2005 are affected by the reduction in the registration period to 15 months in 1997. Data are not available for 1990. Strategic health authority (SHA) data are not available prior to 1997. The following tables provide the regional data requested for England.

England

1995

2000

2005

27,285,146

24,527,730

24,203,449

Adults and Children Registered with an NHS Dentist

56 per cent

50 per cent

48 per cent

Percentage of Population Registered with a NHS Dentist

1 Personal dental services (PDS) schemes have varying registration periods. To ensure comparability with corresponding general dental services data, PDS registrations for established PDS practices are estimated from 2004 onwards using “proxy registrations”, namely the number of patients seen by PDS practices in the past 15 months.

2 Data for 2000 and earlier do not include those PDS schemes that do not have any registrations (for example, dental access centres) and are therefore not directly comparable with later data.

3 In 1997, the registration period changed to 15 months. Previously, the period for adults was 24 months whilst children's registrations expired at the end of the following calendar year. The introduction of PDS in October 1998 and subsequent growth have also affected the figures.

4 Prison contracts have not been included in this analysis.

General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): NHS dental patient registration data at England level, as at30 September, for each specified year (England)

1991

1995

2000

2005

21,570,226

27,285,146

24,527,730

24,203,449

Adult and Children Registered with a NHS Dentist

45 per cent

56 per cent

50 per cent

48 per cent

Percentage of Population Registered with a NHS dentist

Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, NHS Business Services Authority (BSA), Office for National Statistics

General Dental Services (GDS) and Personal Dental Services (PDS): population registered with a dentist, at SHA level and for England, as at 30 September in each specified year.

Strategic Health Authority

1997

2000

2005

England

27,147,063

24,527,730

24,203,449

Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA

1,195,147

1,136,979

1,175,843

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA

874,093

790,572

804,136

Essex SHA

841,866

824,948

761,559

North West London SHA

927,091

788,973

784,476

North Central London SHA

604,499

516,889

513,558

North East London SHA

713,538

603,645

619,906

South East London SHA

740,707

632,633

626,430

South West London SHA

635,191

530,436

499,416

Northumberland, Tyne & Wear SHA

871,750

774,789

817,238

County Durham and Tees Valley SHA

719,755

661,091

655,776

North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA

906,871

868,704

836,634

West Yorkshire SHA

1,274,203

1,149,755

1,138,407

Cumbria and Lancashire SHA

1,056,559

979,663

925,864

Greater Manchester SHA

1,580,894

1,396,827

1,373,588

Cheshire & Merseyside SHA

1,488,004

1,337,831

1,359,911

Thames Valley SHA

905,167

806,872

794,503

Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA

961,750

835,434

737,325

Kent and Medway SHA

731,942

699,828

649,273

Surrey and Sussex SHA

1,363,897

1,227,999

1,135,802

Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA

1,133,324

1,005,707

990,811

South West Peninsula SHA

844,516

765,894

773,246

Dorset and Somerset SHA

702,884

646,067

618,981

South Yorkshire SHA

800,655

744,260

742,522

Trent SHA

1,508,310

1,443,864

1,388,024

Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA

895,154

822,626

811,696

Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA

756,816

668,314

687,500

Birmingham and The Black Country SHA

1,260,532

1,117,547

1,205,207

West Midlands South SHA

851,948

749,583

775,817

Source: the information centre for health and social care, NHS Business Services Authority (BSA)

1 The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. SHA areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all-fields postcode directory.

2 Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Information on NHS dentistry in the community dental service, hospitals and prisons is excluded.

3 The data in this report are based on NHS dentists on PCT lists. These details were passed on to the BSA, which paid dentists based on activity undertaken. A dentist can provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the PCT. In some cases an NHS dentist may appear on a PCT list but not perform any NHS work in that period.

4 Most NHS dentists do some private work. The data do not take into account the proportion of NHS work undertaken by dentists.

5 PDS schemes had varying registration periods. To ensure comparability with corresponding GDS data, PDS registrations are estimated using “proxy registrations”, namely the number of patients seen by PDS practices in the previous 15 months. PDS proxy registrations were not estimated for periods before September 2003—actual registrations were used before this date.

General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): NHS dental patient registrations as a percentage of the population, at SHA level, as at 30 September for each specified year

Strategic Health Authority

1997

2000

2005

Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA

..

..

51.92%

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA

..

..

49.31

Essex SHA

..

..

46.27%

North West London SHA

..

..

41.92%

North Central London SHA

..

..

41.30%

North East London SHA

..

..

40.18%

South East London SHA

..

..

41.09%

South West London SHA

..

..

37.39%

Northumberland, Tyne & Wear SHA

..

..

58.10%

County Durham and Tees Valley SHA

..

..

56.93%

North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA

..

..

50.41%

West Yorkshire SHA

..

..

53.73%

Cumbria and Lancashire SHA

..

..

47.77%

Greater Manchester SHA

..

..

53.92%

Cheshire & Merseyside SHA

..

..

57.61%

Thames Valley SHA

..

..

37.14%

Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA

..

..

40.71%

Kent and Medway SHA

..

..

40.05%

Surrey and Sussex SHA

..

..

43.80%

Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA

..

..

44.61%

South West Peninsula SHA

..

..

47.46%

Dorset and Somerset SHA

..

..

50.84%

South Yorkshire SHA

..

..

57.76%

Trent SHA

..

..

51.38%

Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA

..

..

50.57%

Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA

..

..

45.66%

Birmingham and The Black Country SHA

..

..

52.70%

West Midlands South SHA

..

..

49.33%

Source: the information centre for health and social care, the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) and the Office for National Statistics

1 The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. SHA areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all-fields postcode directory.

2 Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Information on NHS dentistry in the community dental service, hospitals and prisons is excluded.

3 The data in this report are based on NHS dentists on PCT lists. These details were passed on to the BSA, which paid dentists based on activity undertaken. A dentist can provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the PCT. In some cases, an NHS dentist may appear on a PCT list but not perform any NHS work in that period.

4 Most NHS dentists do some private work. The data do not take into account the proportion of NHS work undertaken by dentists.

5 Not applicable. Population estimates are not available at SHA level prior to 2001.

6 PDS schemes had varying registration periods. To ensure comparability with corresponding GDS data, PDS registrations are estimated using “proxy registrations”, namely the number of patients seen by PDS practices in the previous 15 months. PDS proxy registrations were not estimated for periods before September 2003—actual registrations were used before this date.

The data supplied for Northern Ireland are at30 June each year with the exception of December 1994, as these are the closest available archived data to 1995. Data are not available for 1990.

Northern Ireland December 1994

June 2000

June 2005

992,870

923,974

911,915

Adults and Children Registered with an NHS dentist

60 per cent.

55 per cent.

53 per cent.

Percentage of Population Registered with a NHS dentist

Source: Central Services Agency

1 Figures for registered patients include a small proportion that may reside temporarily elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

2 Population base is mid-year estimate of home population for each year (from General Register Office, Northern Ireland).

Information on dentistry in Wales and Scotland is a matter for the relevant national Administration.