City’s dental emergency is badge of shame – MP

WAKEFIELD’S MP has met with one of the city’s health professionals to discuss the shortage of access to dental services.

Simon Lightwood met with NHS dentist Dr Zöe Connelly as part of his ‘Save Wakefield’s Smiles’ campaign.

The MP said they discussed how dentists across the UK are working to NHS contracts that are “not fit for purpose” and how the dental emergency is “devastating lives”.

Through his campaign, Mr Lightwood is calling for better dental services across the city and has called on the Government to take urgent action.

Recent Labour party analysis found that, in the last two years alone, over six million adults tried and failed to get a dental appointment. The research also discovered how many people attempted to carry out their own DIY procedures.

Mr Lightwood said: “The dental emergency in Wakefield is a badge of shame for this government, and people are fed up.

“They’re fed up with 14 years of Conservative mismanagement, they’re fed up with being in pain, and they’re fed up with paying ridiculous money for private services.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to see a dentist and, under the next Labour government, it won’t be.”

Labour has pledged to make 700,000 more urgent appointments available if it wins the general election.

Mr Lightwood added: ‘We’ll incentivise new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, so, no matter where you live, you can access the services you need.

‘We’ll roll out supervised toothbrushing in schools for three to five-year-olds, and, crucially, we’ll reform the dental contract to rebuild the service in the long run, so NHS dentistry is there for all who need it.”

Research by Mr Lightwood’s office showed that, in February 2023, no practice in the Wakefield constituency was admitting new NHS patients.

Mr Lightwood used his first Prime Minister’s Question as the MP for Wakefield to highlight the plight of one of his constituents whose six-year-old daughter was consistently crying in pain due to her teeth.

In 2022, Wakefield Council called for a report into dental access across the district after claims that it has become a “desert of availability”.

Councillors voted in favour of a motion calling on the Government to urgently reform NHS dental services.

It comes after reports that dentists who set up practice in areas of England with poor access to NHS care will be offered a £20,000 bonus. The Government has also announced higher payments for dentists who take on new patients and teeth-cleaning in schools as part of a plan to expand levels of dental care.

The plans have been criticised as not going far enough by dental leaders and Labour.