Speeches by Gilmour.

“All the more reason to have noted what the Health Committee and the BDA said a year ago.”

“So you are talking about retention.”

“I had a situation in my constituency, in Dulverton, where the only person who provided NHS care was a trainee. I do not think that that is fair. I do not think it is fair on my constituents and I do not think it is fair on that trainee.”

“When I use the term “workforce”, I am not talking just about dentists. I am talking about having the ability to start as a dental nurse, maybe, and having the confidence and ability to grow in your professional role.”

“You mentioned the workforce, which is what I would like to question you about. I am presuming that you have new data on the dental workforce that informs the decisions or initiatives that you make. How is that informing any future initiatives on workforce support and development? What sort of support and development ha…”

“I am having to write two, three or four times to my local ICB, chasing NHS dental contracts that dentists who come to my surgery say that they have been offered but cannot get. It is a disgrace.”

“And costs the NHS a lot of money. We all know—we see it time and again on this Committee, but it does not seem to be getting through—that prevention is cheaper than cure. The answer that you have just given is “These are all the things we can do: fluoridation and this and that.” The bottom line is that children need to…”

“Can I give you a hint? Minehead, in my constituency, is 324th out of 324 on the social mobility scale. It is deprived. It also has the lowest amount of dentists in the country. Please will you take that statistic away and try to do something about it? If it means talking to the Somerset ICB, that would be great, so I d…”

“But in an article in The Guardian today, the headline is that dentists are “walking away” from the NHS because it loses them money to work as a dentist in the NHS. You can talk about modelling and this and that, but the basic facts are that dentists, with all the good will in the world, cannot afford to stay within the…”

“Let me quote your own words back to you, Mr Sparke. I can’t believe I have to repeat this. You said: “patients it is not attractive to treat on the NHS”. What a shocking statement!”

“Talk to the dentists and the people on the ground. You cannot do this without—”

“It is a shocking regional disparity, but it is also shocking that my constituency, the most deprived in the country, has the lowest number of dentists. It is not just the regional disparity; it is the social-economic disparity. I am trying not to explode.”

“It was not an aspiration; it was part of the plan.”

“We still have the same problem.”

“Could I have a meeting with you about Minehead, please?”

“Brilliant.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) on securing this debate. Rural high streets make up the heart of the local communities, and it is vital to draw attention to the difficulties they f…”

“Could the reason that radiotherapy is used in only 35% of cases, rather than 50% of cases, be that local transport just does not exist to take people to have the treatments that they need?”

“Some time ago, I worked in international development roles, including with former orphanage children in eastern bloc countries in the former Soviet Union, such as Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, and it was abundantly clear then that children are better off raised in families. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should…”

“As a Member of the party that introduced the state pension, I am behind the Government on this Bill because we all want to cut down on tax fraud and evasion. But I am concerned that pensioners are included under this blanket of Government scrutiny, and it seems that the only thing they have done to deserve it is to get…”