Measuring politicians' concerns about oral health care in the British National Health Service

To evaluate and compare the concerns of members of parliament concerns about NHS oral health care services in the United Kingdom.

Questions written to secretaries of state for health in 1994/5 and 1997/8 were ordered, analysed and compared using a model developed from NHS aims.

Numbers of questions: variations by country and political party; access to care and its quality in terms of individuals and populations, and corrective actions implicitly required of secretaries of state; role of the dental services.

Questions in 1994/5 numbered 171; in 1997/8, 113. Proportions about the UK's four countries varied by year (P<0.001). Questions implying inequalities in access were twofold: about populations and/or individuals. For populations they could be categorised as demographic (e.g. by variations between health authorities) and/or by temporal changes. There were fewer such questions in 1997/8 (demographic P<0.001, temporal P<0.001). Questions about inequalities of access for individuals also declined. Although all questions required information, a proportion sought action by secretaries of state to improve access, quality, or the role of the dental services; in 1994/5 these formed 44% of questions, in 1997/8, 88%. Action could be of three kinds; all increased in 1997/8 compared with 1994/5: fiscal, P<0.001 and principled, P<0.01, but research P>0.05. Action about access predominated in both years. Some of the model's outcomes were compared with actions proposed in the recent government strategy for dentistry for England.

By measuring MPs' concerns the dental services might be better forewarned about possible government actions to improve congruence of oral health care activities with NHS aims.