Dentistry Desert

My Liberal Democrat parliamentary colleagues and I are campaigning to combat the NHS ‘dentistry desert’. Amongst actions (some listed below), I have been pressing government ministers to look again at the NHS dental services contracts, because, in places like Cornwall, it is not all down to a shortage of funding, as the NHS dentistry budget was again underspent last year.

Across the country, millions of people are going without basic dental care, with many even turning to pulling their own teeth out due to the lack of NHS services. This is unacceptable. We cannot carry on like this.

NHS dentistry in Cornwall is amongst the worst in the country.  Children are unlikely to see an NHS dentist before adulthood. Thousands are thrown off the NHS list each year. Most people don’t have access to an NHS dentist. Despite promises, NHS dentistry has significantly worsened under the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats are setting out a plan to end dental deserts and bring back local NHS dentists across the UK. Though, of course, we are not in government, but engage constructively with the new government to encourage ministers to do the right thing.

• We propose the establishment of a Dental Rescue Package that brings dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by fixing the broken NHS dental contract and using flexible commissioning to meet patient needs. This should include, in my view, the simple introduction of salaried positions for private sector dentists to work certain days each week for the NHS.
• We’d also introduce an emergency scheme to guarantee access to free NHS dental check-ups for those already eligible: children, new mothers, those who are pregnant and those on low incomes.
• We are campaigning to guarantee appointments for all those who need a dental check before commencing surgery, chemotherapy or transplant.

Preventing tooth decay

• We are pressing for supervised toothbrush training for children in nurseries and schools.
• We are calling for VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste to be scrapped.

In addition, Liberal Democrats propose:

1. An increase in the number of dental training places in the UK and continued recognition of EU-trained dentists’ qualifications.
2. Proper workforce planning for health and social care to be written into law, including projections for dentists and dental staff.
3. A reversal of the last Conservative government’s cuts to public health grants to support preventative dental health care, for example, oral health programmes or promoting healthy eating choices.
4. Longer-term consideration of more major reform to put prevention first, with much-needed sustained investment for prevention and oral public health as part of the Public Health Grant.

At the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference 2023, we passed a motion which sets out our plan to improve access to dental services. You can read this here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/motions/spring-2023/f5

Practical advice for constituents – from the NHS:

• If you can travel further, you can choose to see any dentist. Not just those local to you – the NHS website on How to find an NHS dentist explains that dentists do not have catchment areas. 
• For urgent or emergency treatment, the NHS website states that if you have a “usual” dentist, you should first contact them. If this isn’t possible, try the NHS 111 service. (Please note that GPs shouldn’t be contacted for dental care.) People should attend A&E if they have severe pain, heavy bleeding, injuries to the face, mouth or teeth.

I have recently checked in with all the dentists in the constituency who have previously taken NHS patients and am disappointed to discover that none are currently taking on any new NHS patients, are having to remove NHS patients from their books and are struggling to employ NHS dentists to meet their patients’ needs.

If a person wants to make a complaint, contact the local integrated care board, which is responsible for dental services. Support to make a complaint is available from NHS Complaints Advocates, who are independent of the NHS. Search online for ‘NHS complaints advocacy’ in your area. If a person is not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, there’s the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, a free and independent service that makes final decisions on unresolved NHS complaints. 

I will continue to lobby for improved NHS dentistry, better contracts, funding and support for the employment of more NHS dentists.