NHS dental crisis Patients 'left feeling abandoned by the system'

ACCESS to NHS dental care has become so dire in parts of the country that MPs have described their constituencies as “dental deserts”, with patients resorting to A&E, travelling long distances, or paying hundreds even thousands - for private treatment because they cannot find an NHS dentist.

- Lewis CLARKE

The crisis came under sharp scrutiny during a Westminster Hall debate last week, as MPs from across the political spectrum laid bare the toll the shortage of NHS dental provision is taking on their communities.

Claire Hazelgrove, Labour MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, opened the debate by pointing to a long-standing lack of access to affordable dental care in her area. She said that while canvassing in the run-up to last year’s general election, one issue came up repeatedly on doorsteps: people were simply unable to find or keep an NHS dentist.

She said: “One of the issues raised with me the most was how hard it had become to find and keep an NHS dentist. Listening and acting on what matters locally, I took that campaign up.”

Ms Hazelgrove carried out a local survey to understand the scale of the problem. The results, she said, were damning. Just 31% of respondents reported having an NHS dentist, while nearly all of those who didn’t - 97% - said they would like one. A significant majority, 65%, said they had lost NHS access because their dentist had gone private. She added that 94% backed Labour's plan to introduce 700,000 new urgent NHS dental appointments annually.

Despite raising these issues before the election, Hazelgrove said the former Conservative government failed to act. “Still there was no change from the Conservatives, who voted against Labour's plans to rescue NHS dentistry and, remarkably, continued to do nothing,” she said.

The MP said the lack of local access was not just a political point - it was a personal one. “Living locally, I know how challenging this has become - I do not have an NHS dentist either.”