MINISTERS embarrassed by the sight of long lines of people trying to sign up for an NHS dentist have come up with a simple solution: they have banned queues.

In an interview with The Times, Rosie Winterton, the minister in charge of dentistry, disclosed that an edict had gone out to local primary care trusts to make sure that future registrations take place over the phone or by appointment.

Ms Winterton, who is locked in a battle of wills with the British Dental Association (BDA) over government reforms, admitted that queueing for an NHS dentist was unacceptable.

“Of course we want to confine the queues to history,” said Ms Winterton before talks with the BDA over a new dentists’ contract that she hopes will save NHS dentistry.

The Government wants to reform the way in which dentists are paid. They will be asked to take on more NHS patients in return for an £80,000 salary, £80,000 in expenses and a new monitoring system.

Dentists say that the contract does not allow enough time for preventative work. They also want the monitoring suspended, claiming that it is too complicated.

Ms Winterton is determined that the reforms should go ahead from April 1 despite threats of a mass exodus of dentists to the private sector.

Hanging over the reforms is the pledge made by Tony Blair in 1999 that within two years everyone would be able to see an NHS dentist. It did not happen.

Ms Winterton defended her boss, saying that NHS Direct and 53 new dental access centres meant that people were able to get emergency NHS treatment. Under the reforms, six-monthly check-ups will end, with healthy patients told not to return for three years.

PRICES TO PAY

From April, the current roster of 400 different charges for treatments will be replaced by just three:

£189 — complex courses of treatment and procedures such as the fitting of crowns, dentures or bridges

No charge — writing a prescription, removing stitches, repairs to dentures

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