Political Parties Jockey to Fix “Bonkers” Dental System
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- Published: Wednesday, 22 November 2023 08:43
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Dentistry, in particular NHS access, has become a newsworthy subject during this government, and risen up the list of voter interests. Unsurprisingly, all parties are keen to let voters know what they plan to do, especially about the access crisis.
Now, Labour party Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner has written about how they would improve access, in her local Tameside Reporter.
Starting with the familiar grim statistics, she writes about patients being forced to attend A&E with dental problems, as across the country they find it impossible to get an urgent appointment with an NHS dentist.
Within the Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, in 2022/23, 50 patients were seen in A&E with a dental abscess caused by tooth decay, while across the country last year, 67,000 patients attended emergency departments with tooth decay.
Angela Rayner described this as evidence of an “alarming decline” in NHS dentistry. Labour’s analysis of patient survey data suggests that 4.75 million people across England were denied an appointment with an NHS dentist in the past two years. Often would-be patients are told that no appointments are available, or that the practice they contacted is not taking on new patients.
The well briefed Deputy Leader continued, “The inability for patients to access dental healthcare has forced many into A&E departments when their conditions have worsened. Currently, tooth decay is the most common reason for children aged six to ten years old to be admitted to hospital.”
She repeated the Labour pledge to provide an extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments and reform the NHS dental contract. This would be part of a package of measures to “rescue” NHS dentistry.
The Labour proposals include: Funding NHS dental practices to provide the promised 700,000 extra urgent appointments, incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, so tackling the emergence of ‘dental deserts,” and contract reform. This would aim to “rebuild the service in the long-run, so NHS dentistry is there for all who need it.” It also appears that the controversial supervised tooth brushing in schools programme for 3-5 year olds, which would be targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay rates, remains in Labours plans.
According to Angela Rayner the plans will cost £111 million a year in total and be funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows people who live and work in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.
Meanwhile in Norwich, a Green party target seat, the Greens have provided their take on the local situation, claiming that the City is now a “dental desert.” They quote research showing that no practices in the City are currently able to accept new NHS patients, with the nearest one taking on over 18’s, being 33 miles away.
The Greens have now launched a petition calling on the City Council to lobby both central government and the local ICB to develop an action plan. They quoted their council group deputy leader, Alex Catt, who said : “After 13 years of a Conservative government, the NHS has been systematically underfunded and increasingly privatised. Dental services have not been immune to this and the situation is reaching critical levels in the city. We are calling for Norwich City Council to lobby the government and the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board to tackle the dental desert that Norwich has become.”
Elsewhere, the incumbent MP and a challenger in North Devon have been keen to demonstrate their interest in dental services. According to Devon Live, Conservative MP Selaine Saxby has launched a petition to fix the “bonkers” system put in place by her own government, which she claims has left her with little influence in Westminster.
The Lib Dems who have held this seat in the past, have said that North Devon is facing a dentistry crisis. To prove their point, another practice in South Molton, has now announced that it too, will no longer be taking NHS patients.
The area has secured its place in the dental desert league table with, of the 17 dental practices open in North Devon and Torridge, 14 not accepting new NHS patients and the other three only taking NHS patients referred to them by other dental practices.
Commenting, Ian Roome, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for North Devon, said: “The Conservative government is happy to take our taxes to pay for dentistry but where is that money going? People in North Devon are once again being taken for granted.”
Mr Roome said his plan for NHS dentistry was to reform and increase funding for NHS dental contracts, which he said were not viable for many dental practices.
He also called for the creation of a dentistry hub in North Devon, involving Petroc and Plymouth University’s Peninsula Dental School.
Selaine Saxby’s office was approached for comment by Devon Live, and told that they would issue a press release when the petition was submitted.
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