§ Miss Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in order to avoid confusion and cost to patients, he will instruct dentists to display notices prominently in ther waiting rooms indicating whether treatment is private or under the National Health Service.
§ Mr. MoyleGeneral dental practitioners are independent contractors and are free to accept or refuse any patient for National Health Service treatment and to practise privately. I have no powers to compel them to display a notice of the kind mentioned. I think it unnecessary as each dentist is under an ethical obligation to clarify the nature of the contract whether it be National Health Service or private before commencing treatment and to indicate the probable cost. Nevertheless it is in patients' own interest to make sure before each course of treatment begins that they have been accepted for National Health Service treatment.