§ 22. Mr. Costainasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many forms a dentist in the National Health Service has to complete before he is able to treat a patient.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security (Mr. Michael Alison)Two for every course of treatment provided for general dental service patients. They are the dental estimate form and the record card, the latter of which, of course, serves a clinical need. In addition, an official receipt has to be given where a statutory charge is payable.
§ Mr. CostainI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that that is only for standard dental treatment, and that dentists are getting fed up with the number of supplementary forms which he described in the letter he sent to me today? Does he appreciate that I have a great deal of confidence that he will get rid of this lot of statistics and let the detists get on with curing people's toothache?
§ Mr. AlisonThere are a number of other dental forms that may be needed, but they represent a tiny percentage in relation to all courses of dental treatment.