§ Q3. Mr. Anthony Steen (Totnes) (Con)If he will make an official visit to Hazelwood House, Kingsbridge, Devon.
§ The Prime MinisterI have no current plans to do so.
§ Mr. SteenAlthough Hazelwood provides reconciliation and hope for the few, there is no hope for the rest of my constituents if they are in pain because there is not one NHS dentist in the whole of south Devon to help them. What can the Prime Minister say to a low-income family from Kingsbridge whose children have teeth problems and cannot afford to go private or a pensioner who has an abscess but nowhere to go for treatment? Is not he, as the Prime Minister, ashamed to preside over a Government who tolerate such neglect of the people?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree entirely that there are real problems in relation to dentistry and dentists at the moment—that is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health will bring forward proposals on that in the next few weeks—but I hope that the hon. Gentleman would agree with me about the origins of the problem: a 1990 contract for dentistry that was disastrous and, in addition, a massive cut in the 280 number of training places for dentists. So although we have been describing some of the real progress that has been made in the national health service, I agree that, in respect of dentistry, there is a lot more to do, but I do not believe that the Conservative party is in any position to criticise.