Profit and floss

Dentists lined up to blast the "sticking plaster" plan as Health Secretary Victoria Atkins yesterday refused to rule out whether it will actually mean more budget cuts.

- MARTIN BAGOT

THE Tories' dentistry "rescue plan" will do nothing to make more dentists available on the NHS, the Government has been told.

Funding cuts have led to an exodus of dentists going Mi private amid a collapse in access to NHS care.

Under the long-delayed plan, the minimum amount paid to dentists for an NHS treatment will rise from £23 to £28. But experts said it does not change the NHS contract, which effectively caps the number of patients a dentist can see and often claws back tens of thousands of pounds at the end of the financial year.