Summary
The NHS Information Centre publishes regular information on NHS primary care dental services. Detailed reports which cover each financial year are supported by quarterly updates. The data is provided from the NHS Business Service Authority Dental Services Division (NHS BSA DSD) payment systems. This report covers all activity carried out in 2006/07 and 2007/08; the first and second years of the new dental contract system. It also includes updated data for the first three quarters of 2007/08 which accounts for treatments reported late.
Activity
36.0 million Courses of Treatment (CoTs) were carried out in 2007/08, an increase of 937,000 (2.7 per cent) on the previous year.
77.0 million Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) were carried out in 2007/08, an increase of 3.3 million (4.5 per cent) on the previous year.
more than half (53.6 per cent) of CoTs carried out in 2007/08 were within Band 1, compared with 54.2 per cent in 2006/07. Band 2 treatment accounted for 30.5 per cent of total CoTs in both years, whilst the percentage of total CoTs represented by Band 3 treatments increased by 0.3 percentage points, from 4.4 per cent in 2006/07 to 4.7 per cent in 2007/08. The remaining 11.2 per cent of CoTs were for urgent and other (charge exempt) treatments.
the proportion of CoTs by treatment band varied by Strategic Health Authority (SHA). London had the worst proportion of CoTs carried out in Band 1 (44.1 per cent) but the highest proportion in Bands 2 and 3 (35.8 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively). East Midlands and South Central had the highest proportion of Band 1 treatments (each 57.6 per cent).
the treatment band with the highest proportion of UDAs was Band 2 in both 2006/07 and 2007/08, although this proportion decreased by 0.7 percentage points from 43.5 per cent to 42.8 per cent. Band 1 accounted for 25.0 per cent of UDAs carried out in 2007/08, compared with 25.8 per cent in 2006/07. The percentage of UDAs represented by Band 3 treatments increased by 1.4 percentage points, from 24.9 per cent to 26.3 per cent. The remaining 5.8 per cent of UDAs in 2007/08 were for urgent and other (charge exempt) treatments.
while more UDAs were undertaken by all SHAs in the second year of the new dental contract systems, 18 PCTs (11.8 per cent of all PCTs) recorded fewer. At a PCT level, the largest percentage increase was 28.3 per cent whilst the largest percentage decrease was 4.4 per cent. PCT level information are contained within the annexes and the factsheet (annex 2).
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Patients Seen
27.0 million patients had seen an NHS dentist in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008. This represents a decrease of 1.1 million (3.9 per cent) on the 28.1 million patients seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 1.0 million (3.7 per cent) on the 28.1 million patients seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
53.3 per cent of the population were seen in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008. This represents a decrease of 2.5 percentage points on the 55.8 per cent of the population seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 2.1 percentage points on the 55.4 per cent of the population seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
19.4 million adults were seen in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008. This represents a decrease of 913,000 adults (4.5 per cent) on the 20.3 million adults seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 850,000 (4.2 per cent) on the 20.3 million patients seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
48.9 per cent of the adult population were seen in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008. This represents a decrease of 2.7 percentage points on the 51.6 per cent of the population seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 2.1 percentage points on the 51.0 per cent of the population seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
7.6 million children were seen in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008. This represents a decrease of 182,000 (2.3 per cent) on the 7.8 million children seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 198,000 (2.5 per cent) on the 7.8 million children seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
the proportion of the minor population seen in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008 was 69.2 per cent. This represents a decrease of 1.4 percentage points on the 70.7 per cent seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2006, and a decrease of 1.8 percentage points on the 71.0 per cent seen in the 24 months ending 31 March 2007.
the Dental Services Division (DSD) of the BSA has recently issued PCT level patients seen information for management information purposes. PCTs have recently raised some issues which suggest that the manner in which patients are allocated to PCTs across the various quarters needs to be reviewed. This means that sub-national information on patients seen has not been published in this report. The DSD has confirmed that this problem could only have a minimal impact on the national figures. They have therefore been labelled as provisional pending the review. Further information on this apraisal will be available in due course.
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