NHS Dentistry and Primary Health Care

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:23 pm on 29 June 2005.

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Photo of Julia Goldsworthy Julia Goldsworthy Shadow Minister, Health 3:23, 29 June 2005

I shall deal with that in due course.

The necessity for the fundamental review and the fact that it will be scoped before it happens suggest that the Government are rowing away as quickly as possible from their general election manifesto pledge.

The access problems have been shown by contributions from hon. Members of all parties. I should like to add my experience to that of other hon. Members. Like my hon. Friend Mr. Horwood, I tried to find a dentist in my area who could offer me treatment under the NHS. I thought that I would ascertain whether the Prime Minister's pledge held up and whether I would be referred to an NHS dentist if I phoned NHS Direct. I gave NHS Direct a call and looked at the NHS website. Of a total of 15 practices in my constituency, only four are accepting new NHS patients. None offers occasional or emergency treatment for non-registered patients. Three were ruled out because they accepted new NHS patients from only their immediate area, where I do not live. I live in Camborne and there was only one option for me. I rang that practice directly and was told that I would have to wait between two and eight months. The person to whom I spoke said that they were very sorry, but they could not tell me how long I might have to wait to be registered. If I put my name down, they would try to get back to me. That would depend on what vacancies came up and when they were advised by the primary care trust to register more people.