§ 3. Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he proposes to take to ensure that national health service dentistry is available in south Shropshire. [7944]
§ 10. Mrs. BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he is assessing in order to improve access to national health service dentistry. [7952]
§ Mr. MilburnThe previous Administration's failures mean that there are problems with access to NHS dentistry in some parts of the country. I shall decide shortly on how best to use the resources available to us for improving the availability of NHS dentistry. In addition, on 1 July I announced the Government's intention to proceed with the piloting of personal dental services under the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997. Those measures will help to ensure the provision of dental services that best suit local circumstances.
§ Mr. GillI do not think that my constituents in south Shropshire will be much impressed by the hon. Gentleman's attempt to shuffle off the responsibility to the previous Government, because the new Government are now responsible for national health service provision in all areas. If he wants to pick a quarrel, let me point out that my party provided 3,500 extra national health service dentists in the period 1979 to 1997. The point at issue is that it is unreasonable for my constituents in south Shropshire to have to journey to Telford or Shrewsbury for dental health treatment. Will the Minister give the House a categorical assurance that he will correct that situation?
§ Mr. MilburnIf the hon. Gentleman wants to trade facts of the matter, I am happy to do so. The fact of the matter is that under the Conservative Government the number of adults registered in the Shropshire area for NHS dental treatment fell by more than 1,000 per month over the past year. The Conservative Government were responsible for that, not us.
§ Mrs. BallardThe Minister knows that many people, especially new patients, have problems with access to NHS dentistry. My constituents have been concerned about that for at least the past seven years, so I do not lay the blame at the Government's door. What targets will he set so that improvement in access to NHS dentistry can be measured? Will they relate to distance travelled or to the number of dentists per 10,000 population? Can we have specific measurements of performance that we can tell our constituents to expect within a certain timetable?
§ Mr. MilburnWe are considering two issues: how best to use the resources available to plug the gaps in provision to which the hon. Lady alludes, and how more effectively to use those resources the better to ensure the improvement of oral health. She recognises that there are major variations in oral health performance between areas. I and my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Health will be undertaking an important joint initiative to ensure that access to NHS dentistry is more widely available and that our resources better improve the oral health of the population.
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeDoes not it take enormous brass neck for the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill), 743 11 weeks into a new Labour Government, to ask a question about NHS dentistry when, according to the Library, he has not asked a question on dentistry in the past two Parliaments, going back to 1987? NHS dentistry is a desert not only in south Shropshire but in places such as north-east Lancashire. Is not it time that more was put into dental services to ensure that our NHS dental service is capable of surviving after 18 years of Tory government?
§ Mr. MilburnMy hon. Friend is right to make that point about the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill). An announcement will be made in due course about how we intend to target the resources that we have to improve availability and the oral health of the nation.