§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that NHS dentistry is available throughout the UK. [109836]
§ Mr. HuttonWe recognise the problems of access to National Health Service dentistry which exist in parts of the country and which it inherited in 1997. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made it clear that, by the end of 2001, everyone should be able to find an NHS dentist simply by calling NHS Direct. We have already addressed the problem with the Investing in Dentistry initiative which generated up to 800,000 patient registrations with dentists, and the Personal Dental Service projects which include "phone and go" dental access centres. By the end of the year there will be about forty access centres in the areas which need them most, providing the full range of high quality NHS dentistry to patients who are not registered with a dentist. Further measures will be set out in the forthcoming strategy for NHS dentistry in England.