§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
The Secretary of State's Written Ministerial Statement on 16 July set out the Government's plans for rebuilding National Health Service dentistry, ensuring better access to NHS dental care and improving oral health in England. The plans included a significant increase in funding and a substantial programme of action to increase dental workforce capacity. These improvements will be made against the background of the move to local commissioning in October 2005.
The views of a wide range of organisations were helpful to us in drawing up our proposals. For example the British Dental Association and representatives from the NHS and higher education were among those who contributed to the report of the primary care dental workforce review which was completed in 2002. Although time has moved on, the report is important contextual information about the perceived needs as seen in 2002. The report assisted our thinking as we developed the comprehensive plans announced last week. We are therefore publishing the report today. It is available on the department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/publications. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.