§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the regulations concerning the provision by the NHS of out-of-hours dental cover for (a) patients registered with an NHS dentist and (b) patients not registered with an NHS dentist; and if she will make a statement on the content of those regulations.
§ Mr. MaloneThe regulations concerning the provision of out-of-hours emergency dental cover, for both registered and unregistered patients, are contained in the National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations 1992.
The terms of service for general dental practitioners contained in these regulations require dentists to make reasonable arrangements to ensure that patients registered with them for capitation or continuing care can get treatment in an emergency.
Regulation 14 of these regulations enables family health services authorities to make arrangements for treatment in urgent cases of patients who have difficulty obtaining treatment. FHSAs organise emergency sessions at health centres at weekends and bank holidays, mainly for unregistered patients.
§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by family health services authority the arrangements which exist for emergency dental cover out of hours; and what procedures are in place to monitor the extent and quality of these arrangements.
§ Mr. MaloneEmergency dental services for registered patients are the responsibility of their dentists. For non-registered patients, information about emergency dental services is obtained in an annual survey of family health services authorities in England and Wales. The results for 1993–94 are available in the Library. It is for each FHSA to manage the general dental service locally, and this will include monitoring the extent and quality of such emergency arrangements.