Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Tuesday, 22 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 November 2005. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 December 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dentistry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost per patient episode is at (a) a dental access centre and (b) a dental surgery operating under the general dental services contract.

Answer: The Department only holds information on its central contribution to dental access centres and does not hold full cost information, which includes any primary care trust (PCT) contribution and patient charge revenue. The Department does not have complete data from PCTs on patient throughput in dental access centres. However, based on the Department's total central contribution to the cost of dental access centres and the available data on patient throughput, the estimated average cost per patient episode in 2004–05 was a maximum of £141.For the quarter ending September 2005, the average cost per patient episode, at a dental surgery operating under the general dental services contract was £41.77."Source:" Dental Practice Board

Secondary information