A HEALTH minister has pledged to investigate why dentists in the Burnley area are going private despite Government attempts to stop them abandoning the NHS.

The vow came after Burnley MP Peter Pike urged action, just days after yet another dental surgery in his Burnley constituency announced it was to stop treating NHS patients.

Now the Labour backbencher wants the Government to halt the flight at a time when NHS dentist places in East Lancashire are at a premium.

He told Rosie Winterton, the Health Minister in charge of dentistry, that the Taylor practice on Colne Road in his Burnley constituency had left the system.

At Health Questions in the Commons he told Mrs Winterton: "You know that Burnley is an area of deprivation.

"It also has a big shortage of NHS dentists and a record of poor dental health.

"You have visited East Lancashire and know that its Primary Care Trust are working with the government to try to address those problems.

"However, I am sure that you will be dismayed to hear that last week the Taylor dental practice on Colne Road in Burnley decided to leave the NHS.

"Will you check with the local PCT about why things are working in the opposite direction to what it and you are trying to achieve?"

Mrs Winterton said: "I will certainly check on that. When I visited your area, it was obvious that the PCT had good plans that were backed up with extra resources.

"I think that some 40,000 extra registrations are planned throughout East Lancashire.

"I know that the plans are there but I shall certainly examine your point about a specific dentist moving out of the NHS and find out whether we can do anything to rectify that situation."

Other dental practices across the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT, and in neighbouring constituencies to Mr Pike's, are also turning private.

Barnoldswick's Diamond Smiles practice, in Skipton Road, which was set up with more than £30,000 of public money, is due to close to NHS patients in just a few weeks' time following an announcement late last year.

Adam Evans received £30,500 from Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust three years ago to set up his practice in Skipton Road, Barnoldswick.

However, in September he announced he was going private leaving the town without a NHS dentist and further deepening East Lancashire's dental crisis.

There are 71 dentists in 37 practices across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale. More than 60 per cent of people in the area are either not registered with an NHS dentist or are registered with a private practice.

Nobody at the Taylor practice was available for comment when contacted by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph today.