New Dental Contract Short-changes MK's Primary Care Trust by £500,000

7.32.34pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Apr 2007

A year after a new contract for NHS dentists was introduced, local Liberal Democrats have released figures showing it has short-changed Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust (PCT) by half a million pounds.

Milton Keynes PCT has not received the money it expected from dentists under the new system, leaving the PCT with this significant shortfall in the 2006/07 financial year.

Plugging this hole could lead to money being taken from other services provided by the PCT which could hit patient care hard.

Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Milton Keynes North, Jill Hope, who worked with BBC journalists on investigations into the loss of NHS dentists in 2005, said: "The Labour Government gave the PCT £500,000 last year to improve the availability of NHS dentists, but this was clearly insufficient for a growing city.

"I congratulate the PCT for clearing the backlog of 3,400 patients waiting for an NHS dentist, but the funding generated by the new dental contracts was seriously misjudged by the Labour Government.

"As primary care trusts desperately move money around to fill the gap created by the dental contracts, the axe will be swinging over so-called 'soft targets' such as sexual health treatment and alcohol services. With sexually transmitted diseases and alcohol abuse among young people on the rise, this is not a shortcut we can afford to take.

"This is a shocking example of an ill-thought out reform, which will clearly have an adverse impact on Milton Keynes PCT. How can PCTs make sensible local decisions, when their funding is abruptly cut by £500,000?"