§ 54. Lord Balnielasked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the practice whereby some dentists require a patient to have preliminary treatment done privately for a fee, before accepting the patient under the National Health Service; and what steps he will take to ensure that this does not occur.
§ 60. Sir A. Hurdasked the Minister of Health what is his policy with regard to the practice of some dentists who now require patients coming to them under the National Health Service to have preliminary treatment, such as scaling, done on a private fee basis before accepting them for major treatment under the scheme.
§ Mr. BarberI have been told that a very few dentists insist on carrying out some treatment privately before accepting patients under the National Health Service. I entirely accept that this is bad practice, but I know of no case where a patient who wished to have the treatment concerned under the National Health Service was unable to get it from another dentist.