UK NEWS

BROWN FORKS OUT TO AVOID THE DENTIST QUEUES

Gordon Brown

Monday March 12,2007

By Martin Evans

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CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown came under fire last night after it was revealed he has been using a £100-an-hour private dentist.

Mr Brown, a fierce opponent of private medicine, has been a regular patient at the exclusive London Centre for Cosmetic Dentistry.

It boasts a string of celebrity clients, including Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.

Just last week, as an estimated two million Britons continued to struggle without access to an NHS dentist, the Chancellor attended the clinic to undergo root canal treatment. Treated by the practice owner, Mervyn Drurian, he had two half-hour sessions to clean out a dead nerve and cap one of his teeth.

The bill is expected to run into hundreds of pounds, once laboratory fees are added.

Mr Brown has fought hard to stop Tony Blair introducing private-sector methods into the NHS and the revelation that he has chosen private treatment is bound to surprise and anger some of his Left-wing allies.

Astonishingly a spokesman for the Chancellor defended his decision to go private by blaming the current lack of NHS dentists available.

A spokesman said: “Using a private dentist is not the same as using a private doctor.

“Gordon is no different to the large number of people who have found themselves without an NHS dentist because he did not visit one regularly.

“If you have a toothache, you have to find a dentist quickly and to do that you have to go private. It is not like arranging an appointment with your GP. ”

But critics claim the current dental crisis is a direct result of Government policy.
Millions of people in the UK have become increasingly desperate as more dentists join the private sector and close their surgeries to new NHS patients.

Critics have described the public dental system as being more like that of a Third World country.

The situation has deteriorated further since the Government introduced new contracts last April, with numbers of NHS dentists dropping by eight per cent. There are only 3. 7 NHS dentists per 10,000 people in England.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said almost one and a half million people had lost access to an NHS dentist in a year.

He said: “At least there is something that Gordon Brown seems to have in common with people across the country – he has to use a private dentist.

“I do, however, wish there was some evidence he understood that millions would like to get access to NHS dentists but can’t.

“Disturbingly, our figures show that 1. 4 million people have lost access to an NHS dentist in the last year. ”

Mr Drurian confirmed Mr Brown was a regular patient at his Hampstead clinic.
It was rumoured he has had cosmetic treatment on his teeth to improve his public image, but Mr Drurian said: “I’m not going into that. ”