§ 51. Mr. Flanneryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received about the level of pay received by dentists from National Health Service funds; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe receive a steady flow of representations about dentists' pay. Most of them come from people who are directly interested, who claim that dentists are not paid enough and that the fees paid to dentists for certain items of treatment do not include a sufficiently large element for their expenses and who complain that the Government have not always accepted the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration. We get on the other hand a number of complaints from hon. Members and members of the public that certain dentists earn excessive sums of money.
471WWe seek to influence the level of dentists' pay for NHS practice by the evidence we submit to the review body and by our decisions on the review body's recommendations. We are quite satisfied that the present average payment to dentists is fair and is quite sufficient to maintain improvement in the quantity and quality of dental care given to patients and to reimburse dentists' practice expenses. The actual earnings of any individual dentist will however depend on the amount and type of work the dentist does.