Topical Questions: Dentists
17th June 2008
Mike Penning calls for the Government to scrap the dentists' contract which has left 1 million people without access to NHS dentistry.
Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): On the subject of dentistry, in February 2008, the Secretary of State said:
“Access to NHS dentistry is getting better all the time.”—[ Official Report, 5 February 2008; Vol. 471, c. 772.]
I do not think my constituents, constituents around the country or dentists are quite certain what figures the Secretary of State was referring to. Recent figures since his contribution in 2008 show that nearly 1 million British members of the public no longer have access to NHS dentistry. Will he now retract his comments and scrap this ludicrous contract?
Alan Johnson: No, I will not.
“It’s getting better all the time”,
to quote a line from a track on “Sgt. Pepper”. It is getting better in dentistry because the original contract, which the hon. Gentleman seems to want us to reintroduce, was wrong in every respect.
Mike Penning: No, we do not.
Alan Johnson: But we are being asked to withdraw the current contract. It replaced the contract that encouraged drill and fill. It meant that when dentists left the local vicinity, the money went with them. Of course, there was a period when dentists did not sign up to the new contract. Gradually, they are coming back and gradually we are getting to a situation in which dentistry is provided not just on the basis of drill and fill, but on a preventive basis, with a much simpler structure and much better access. The money that we are putting into dentistry this year, next year and the year after has gone up, and primary care trusts are commissioning more dental practices as a result.
