County’s Labour chief hits out at scarcity of dentists
THE leader of the opposition on Staffordshire County Council has hit out at the difficulty people in the county face in finding an NHS dentist.
Councillor Charlotte Atkins said more than 2,000 dentists quit the NHS last year, leaving millions of people struggling to get check-ups or have teeth fixed.
The figures, provided by the Association of Dental Groups (ADG) under freedom of information laws, come on top of an additional loss of 950 in the previous year.
According to the ADG, which represents major chains of surgeries, the NHS has the smallest number of dentists it has had for a decade.
Healthwatch England, which helps put forward views from patients to try to improve care, has reported that people are struggling to get the dental treatment they need when they need it. Cllr Atkins said: “It is a hugely worrying issue.”
Some dental practices have either shut down or have gone fully private. Children, disabled people and people living in care homes are the worst affected, says Healthwatch.
In a column in our sister paper, the Stoke Sentinel, Cllr Atkins said, according to the British Dental Association (BDA) which represents the UK’S 42,000 dentists, NHS dentistry has become “a rotten system” which lets down patients and deters practitioners of dental care.
She said: “It blames ministers for only providing enough money in the dental contract to cover the cost of treating just over half the population, leading to the inability of patients to access NHS care.
“The BDA cites the ‘broken’ contract as the problem as it involves targets for the amount of care given and can end up paying dentists the same amount for doing one filling as for doing ten.
“The contract also discourages dentists from taking on complex cases because they are not paid for the time involved in completing the treatment. So many dentists do not see their future within the NHS.”
Cllr Atkins said “dental deserts” could not be allowed to develop. She said: “Dentists are often the health professionals who spot serious health problems early,such as mouth cancer and type 2 diabetes.
“Covid, Brexit and Government underfunding of NHS dental services have combined to create this critical situation.
“But according to the Care Quality Commission, access to dental care for all has been highlighted as an issue since long before the pandemic. However, the profession has also been affected by EU dentists leaving and not coming to the UK after Brexit.
“It is all too easy for the Government to blame Covid for the crisis facing many areas of the NHS. But access to NHS dentistry is one of the recurring issues that Healthwatch has reported on since 2013.”
Amid claims some people were told they had been “deregistered’ with their usual dentist during the pandemic and were unable to find help elsewhere, Councillor Atkins said: “People have felt abandoned, disrespected, frustrated and sometimes in pain, according to Healthwatch.
“As people have struggled to get appointments, there has been a knock-on effect for other urgent and emergency services, such as emergency departments and NHS 111.”