Dental care of homeless raised in Commons
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- Published: Tuesday, 03 July 2018 07:33
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Stella Creasy the Labour MP for Walthamstow has raised the issue of homeless people unable to access dentistry services in her constituency. Junior minister, Jackie Doyle-Price, said patients should not be turned away from a GP, “and the same applies for dentistry.” She continued: “training is in place to remind people of their obligations.”
Some may feel that the minister’s reply was rather misleading, she said: “NHS England has a legal duty to commission services to meet local need, which includes people who are homeless, and we are very clear that a patient should not be turned away from a GP if they cannot produce any supporting documentation. If they state that they reside within the boundaries for the practice, the GP is expected to accept the registration. The same applies for dentistry, and training is in place to remind people of their obligations.”
Stella Creasy continued by saying that rough sleepers had ‘hit a brick wall with our local dentists and doctors. It is little wonder that one study shows that 15% of homeless people have pulled out their own teeth because they cannot get access to services. The Minister agreed to meet Ms Creasy, adding: “It is quite clear that homeless people are not always getting access to the treatment that they should have.”
In 2017 a study by thew homelessness charity Groundswell had found that 15% of homeless people have been forced to pull out their own teeth and 70% reported having lost teeth since they had been homeless; 17% said they had lost teeth following acts of violence and 7% had no teeth remaining at all.
The BDA backed the MP’s calls for action to improve access. Charlotte Waite, the BDA’s chair of England Community Dental Services, said: “Current policy on NHS dentistry is failing vulnerable patients. A civilised society does not leave homeless people so debilitated by oral disease they resort to pulling out their own teeth. The failure to invest in community dentistry is hurting patients who can’t always be cared for in traditional settings. It’s hitting the homeless, the housebound, and patients with dementia, learning disabilities and phobias who are all entitled to effective care.”
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