Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of levels of access to NHS dentistry in (a) Batley and Spen constituency and (b) Kirklees.
NHS Digital dental data are not available at constituency level nor is it possible to identify West Yorkshire specifically.
Data for the number of children aged 0 to 17 seen in the previous 12 months as at 31 December 2016 and the previous 24 months for periods ending 31 March 2016 to 31 March 2010 are available at specified geographies and dates and can be found in the table below.
NHS England has a legal duty to commission services to meet local need. NHS England is considering what steps can be taken to improve dental access in the local area.
Period ending | England | NHS England North (Yorkshire and the Humber) | Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority | Kirklees Local Authority | Kirklees Primary Care Trust |
Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | |
31 December 2016 1 | 6,743,989 | 732,459 | - | 66,385 | - |
Break in time series. Data for the period ending 31 December 2016 are not comparable to data from earlier periods. | |||||
31 March 2016 | 8,085,564 | 856,956 | - | 75,412 | - |
31 March 2015 | 7,987,182 | 850,304 | - | 74,675 | - |
31 March 2014 | 7,891,837 | 843,840 | - | 74,789 | - |
31 March 2013 | 7,837,950 | - | 823,722 | - | 74,854 |
31 March 2012 | 7,827,627 | - | 819,543 | - | 74,722 |
31 March 2011 | 7,769,555 | - | 813,076 | - | 73,652 |
31 March 2010 | 7,694,373 | - | 804,533 | - | 73,534 |
Notes:
1. Data in the above table for 31 December 2016 represent the number of child patients seen in the previous 12 months rather than the previous 24 months as in earlier periods. As this represents a distinct break in the time series, figures for December 2016 are not comparable to earlier data.
2. Patients seen are allocated to a geography (e.g. local authority) via the dentist which they attend for treatment and not by the home postcode of the patient.
3. The figures are for the number of patients seen at least once during the 12 month period. Patients are counted in this data set on their first visit only.