Written Question · S2W-00504 · Session 2
How many dentists have notified patients of the withdrawal of their services under the NHS in the last year; where the practices of such de…
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists have notified patients of the withdrawal of their services under the NHS in the last year; where the practices of such dentists are located, and whether it will take steps to establish new contracts to ensure access to NHS dental services for all.
The answer
The specific information is not available. However, the number of dentists whose patient registration status shows "withdrawn" in the last financial year and the NHS board area that these dentists are located, is shown in the following table. Patient registrations can be withdrawn for a number of reasons, including the dentist moving to another area, non-payment of charges by the patient, entry into a private arrangement, because the dentist has decided to stop treating some or all categories of NHS patients or if a duplicate registration has been detected.Responsibility for the overall provision of NHS dental services in an area rests with the NHS board or Primary Care NHS Trust. However, the Executive recognises that there are problems with access to NHS dental services in some parts of Scotland and has introduced a number of measures aimed at improving such access. We will keep the need for incentives which attract and retain dentists within the National Health Service under constant review.Number of General Dental Service Dentists Whose Patients' Registration Status Shows "Withdrawn"1; April 2002 to March 2003NHS Board Area | Number of Dentists
Ayrshire and Arran | 36
Borders | 17
Argyll and Clyde | 37
Fife | 64
Greater Glasgow | 102
Highland | 25
Lanarkshire | 57
Grampian | 75
Orkney | 0
Lothian | 80
Tayside | 50
Forth Valley | 38
Western Isles | 6
Dumfries and Galloway | 18
Shetland | 0
Scotland | 605 2
Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).Notes:1. Based on dentists whose patients registration status shows "withdrawn" and where the start date of the registration period is between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003; this occurs when there is a request for the registration record to be withdrawn (usually a request from the dentist, approved by the NHS board or primary care NHS trust). It also includes withdrawals carried out where more than one active registration exists for the same patient as part of data cleansing. This means that some withdrawals may be done due to an internal process.2. One dentist can have more than one list number within a NHS board area. One dentist is present in two NHS boards.
Ayrshire and Arran | 36
Borders | 17
Argyll and Clyde | 37
Fife | 64
Greater Glasgow | 102
Highland | 25
Lanarkshire | 57
Grampian | 75
Orkney | 0
Lothian | 80
Tayside | 50
Forth Valley | 38
Western Isles | 6
Dumfries and Galloway | 18
Shetland | 0
Scotland | 605 2
Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).Notes:1. Based on dentists whose patients registration status shows "withdrawn" and where the start date of the registration period is between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003; this occurs when there is a request for the registration record to be withdrawn (usually a request from the dentist, approved by the NHS board or primary care NHS trust). It also includes withdrawals carried out where more than one active registration exists for the same patient as part of data cleansing. This means that some withdrawals may be done due to an internal process.2. One dentist can have more than one list number within a NHS board area. One dentist is present in two NHS boards.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S2W-00504 by reference.