Health and Education

Part of Debate on the Address – in the House of Commons at 1:16 pm on 11 December 2008.

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Photo of Andrew Lansley Andrew Lansley Shadow Secretary of State for Health 1:16, 11 December 2008

I am very concerned about that. The House will have an opportunity next Thursday to debate dentistry, but the Government should be ashamed of the current position. As my hon. Friend rightly says, we were promised in 1999 that everyone would have access, but the consequence of the Government's contract is that 1.2 million fewer people have access to dentistry.

The Government also promised that the change in charging for dentistry would be neutral, in the sense that the amount raised through charges would not increase as a proportion of dental expenditure. That did not happen either. The latest figures published by the Government suggest a 14 per cent. increase in dental charges in the latest year alone. That is about £65 million extra from dental charge income. Patients are paying more, fewer have access, and the dental contract is not delivering as it should.