§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he plans to carry out a pilot study for London to test the feasibility of the dental hygienists' training programme suggested by the Working Party on the Dental Services in their 1974 report on the recruitment and training of dental hygienists;
(2) if he has explored the possibility of using any existing spare capacity in the Armed Services' schools of dental hygiene for training civilian hygienists;
(3) what efforts he has made to encourage the return to work of dental hygienists who have ceased to practice;
(4) what steps he has taken in response to the recommendations on the recruitment and training of hygienists submitted by the Working Party on the Dental Services in 1974;
457W(5) what is his policy on the recruitment and training of dental hygienists.
§ Mr. EnnalsProposals to expand the recruitment and training of dental hygienists, broadly on lines recommended by the Working Party on the Dental Services, were endorsed by my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle), in 1975.
Dental hospitals have been encouraged to expand existing training facilities and to create new ones. Invitations to attend refresher courses have been sent to known dental hygienists who have ceased to practice, and civilian dental hygienists are being trained by all three Armed Services. I have no plans to carry out a pilot study.