Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Under the freedom of information act, I am seeking data on NHS dentistry.

Please provide figures on the following for i) England and ii) Wales

• Total number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) performed in NHS dentistry, by month, Jan 2019-present

• Total number of Units of Orthodontic Activity (UOAs) performed in NHS dentistry, by month, Jan 2019-present

• Total number of courses of treatment given to all patients, with breakdowns for i. children under 18 years of age, ii. paying adults, and iii. exempt adults in NHS dentistry by month, Jan 2019-present

Your request was received on 7 November 2022, and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

A copy of the information is attached.

Guidance Notes

This report contains the details from General and Orthodontic FP17s processed in England/Wales for the Months January 2019 to October 2022 and excludes activity by Foundation Dentists. The information within the report includes the data items and descriptions listed below.

Country Name

The country name where the contract is located based on the contract postcode

Year Month

Used throughout the system to identify the specific year and month that the data relates to, i.e. for forms, it would be the month that the activity was scheduled. This is in the format 'YYYYMM' e.g. 201804 for April 2018.

Adult/Child

Adult/Child Patients are defined based on the patients’ age at the date of acceptance. An adult is defined as a patient aged 18 or over at the date of acceptance, a child aged under 18.

Total FP17s

This is a count of the number of FP17s and FP17Os scheduled including adjustments for amended and deleted FP17s. Withdrawn FP17s are not included in the total count of FP17s. This figure may be zero or negative if deleted FP17s have been processed.

UOA Delivered

The units of orthodontic activity scheduled for the time period selected, relating to the financial year, excluding FD UDA for English/Welsh contracts and and including UDA for Welsh contracts.

UDA Delivered

The units of dental activity scheduled for the financial year to date for the period selected, relating to the financial year e.g. in December this will cover the scheduled months of April to December, excluding FD UDA for English/Welsh contracts and and including UDA for Welsh contracts.

Child Patients

FP17s where the Patient is a child - defined as a child aged under 18

Adult Charge Payers

FP17s where the Patient is an Adult and Exemption/Remission Description is a Charge Payer

Exempt Adults

FP17s where the Patient is an Adult and Patient Charge Status is Exempt

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact nhsbsa.foirequests@nhs.net ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “Dental Services, NHSBSA Copyright 2022” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

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