§ Mr. Montgomeryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the value now of the single and married person's pension, taking the £ sterling as being worth 100p in February 1974;
(2) what was the single and married person's pension in February 1974; and what it is now.
§ Mr. Orme:The following is the information:
rule in leaflet NHS4 (NHS Dental Treatment), which places the onus on the patient to ensure that he is receiving National Health Service treatment; and whether, in view of recent complaints, he expects to make alterations to the existing rule.
293W
§ Mr. Ennals:The Community Health Council is being informed that it is not a "rule" that patients should establish at the beginning of each course of treatment that they have been accepted for NHS treatment. Since dentists in the general dental services, as independent contractors, are free to accept or refuse any patient for NHS treatment, the leaflet NHS4 advices patients to take this precaution. The question of onus has been discussed again recently with the profession and is still under consideration.