§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 1 July,Official Report, column 771, regarding registered dentists, if he will make it his policy to collect information on what proportion of registered dentists offer a full national health service dental service.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesAll dentists who are on the dental lists of family health services authorities are obliged, by their terms of service, to provide the full range of national health service treatment for patients registered with them under national health service arrangements.
General dental practitioners are independent contractors and are free to decide how much of their time to devote to national health service work. The situation may vary from week to week. It would not be cost-effective to collect information centrally in the format suggested. Family health authorities have responsibility for managing general dental services in their area and are best placed to advise on the provision of national health service dental services locally.