John Penrose

Conservative Party | Weston-super-Mare

Prime Minister’s Question

18 January 2006

Q8. [42859] John Penrose (Weston-super-Mare) (Con): Will the Prime Minister please arrange an urgent review of the financial settlement for NHS dentistry funding in Weston-super-Mare? As he undertakes that review, will he bear it in mind that the vast majority of adult provision of such dentistry in Weston-super-Mare is undertaken by just one practice, which deals with 22,000 patients, and that it has been told that, starting this April, it will have to cut patient numbers by 30 per cent.?

The Prime Minister: I understand that this is a problem and of course, one reason why we are trying to get more dentists into the NHS is precisely in order to deal with it. I am afraid that, in the end, as a result of the contract, which was made in 1990, we cannot force dentists to come back in and to provide NHS services. But we are doing our best to recruit more NHS dentists, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support us in that.

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