DENTAL CONTRACT REFORM A REMARKABLE FAILURE - LAMB

4.50.46pm GMT Wed 28th Nov 2007

Commenting on figures showing that more than a quarter of a million people have lost access to NHS dentistry following the Government's dental reforms, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb MP said: "The reform of the dental contract has been a remarkable failure for this Government. It has achieved precisely the opposite of what was intended and what patients need."

"People still cannot find an NHS dentist in much of the country and in many cases the new system doesn't provide enough money for dentists to treat NHS patients towards the end of the financial year."

"When will the Government accept that its reforms aren't working and act to reverse the decline of access to NHS dentistry? We urgently need an independent review of the impact of the new contract with recommendations on how to improve access to an NHS dentist."

Notes

Statistics out today from the Information Centre show that 27,879,000 patients were seen by an NHS dentist in England in the 24 months up to 30 June 2007, compared to 28,145,000 in the 24 months up to 31 March 2006. This is a reduction of 266,000 patients.

<http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-q1-2007-08>