asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what medical qualifications are necessary for a person who administers a general anaesthetic in the course of dental surgery.

All doctors and dentists receive instruction in general anaesthesia as part of their undergraduate training. No additional formal qualification is required before members of either profession can administer a general anaesthetic in the course of dental surgery. However, the desirability of postgraduate training for the administration of general anaesthesia has been widely recognised by both professions and I am glad to say that its implementation is currently being studied by an inter-faculty committee of the Royal College of Surgeons.