Renewed call for action to tackle dentistry ‘crisis’
One patient was told that he had been automatically deregistered as he hadn’t been seen in two years – although he’d been shielding for those two years Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales West Sioned Williams
PLAID Cymru MS for South Wales West Sioned Williams has repeated calls for the Welsh Government to take “immediate action” to tackle what she has described as a dentistry crisis in her region and across the country.
The renewed plea follows the publication of a report by Swansea Bay Community Health Council which highlights the “unacceptable levels of dental access” which is driving people to despair.
The new report, based on feedback received from 1,370 people, has found that many patients in the region are continuing to struggle to access NHS dental services, including pregnant women and children. It also claims that some dentists, if they couldn’t offer an appointment, actually directed patients to buy dental repair kits to carry out work on themselves.
The most startling finding, however, is reports that people have actually pulled their own teeth out at home.
Others, meanwhile, have resorted to trying to find an appointment 15 miles away from where they live.
It was also claimed that some practices are encouraging patients to go private even though they are entitled to free dental care on the NHS, and that a lack of information about NHS practices in general is a cause of frustration for many patients.
Ms Williams raised the issue at the Senedd when she questioned Health Minister Eluned Morgan.
She said: “Swansea Bay Community Health Council’s new report paints a damning picture of dental services in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas.
“It emphasises these issues were present before the pandemic exacerbated them. I heard similar accounts from hundreds of my constituents in response to a recent survey I conducted.
“One patient was told that he had been automatically deregistered as he hadn’t been seen in two years – although he’d been shielding for those two years.”
She added: “While I welcome the government’s recently announced plan to improve dental care, I am unconvinced that the contract reform is going to adequately and urgently address all of the concerns reflected in the report, which are replicated all over Wales.
“There needs to be sufficient funding to increase NHS capacity so as to end this unjust postcode lottery and ensure those who cannot afford to pay or who cannot find a NHS dentist receive the care they are entitled to.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Dental services continue to recover from the pandemic and we have allocated an additional £2m a year to support access for NHS patients.
“Public health and infection control measures during the pandemic to keep dentistry staff and patients safe meant fewer people could be treated. While some measures remain, guidance for dental settings has been revised, which will help to prioritise care for at-risk groups and people with urgent problems.
“We have asked health boards to encourage dental practices to recall people who are overdue their routine NHS dental examination and to provide appropriate NHS treatment for all. The return of services will continue to be gradual and will depend on capacity within individual practices.
“We are working with the British Dental Association and the wider dental community to reform the contracting arrangements for NHS dental provision. This will enable dentists to focus on prevention, providing care for existing patients and include a need to see new NHS patients.”
Karl Bishop, dental director at Swansea Bay Health Board, said in response to the report’s reception: “We recognise the upset and distress which dental pain can cause and acknowledge that some people have not been able to access routine dental services as we would have liked during the Covid pandemic.
“Significant investment has been made by the health board to continually improve access to NHS dental care, especially for those with greatest need and the most vulnerable. This has allowed thousands more people to see a dentist.
“However, government Covid guidance drastically limited the numbers of patients dental practices across Wales and the UK could see and the care that could be provided, although in SBUHB all dental practices remained open and worked to support their communities.
“In addition, access to urgent NHS care has not only been maintained but expanded. As Covid restrictions are relaxed and we renew our focus on prevention and increasing access to dentists, we are confident that the public will start to see improvements.”