Having teamed up with the British Dental Association for the Dentists for All campaign, a debate on the issue will now be heard in the House of Commons on June 13
The Mirror’s campaign to save NHS dentistry will at last be debated in the House of Commons, it has been confirmed.
Dentists for All will be discussed in its main chamber on June 13. The Mirror has reported scores of stories about desperate patients being forced to yank out their own teeth and we have teamed up with the British Dental Association for our campaign.
Its chairman Eddie Crouch said: “The PM pledged to restore NHS dentistry. This debate means the Government can be held to account on what remains a broken promise. We’ve had spin and tweaks at the margins. The millions struggling to secure care deserve real change.”
The chairman of the Backbench Business Committee granted the debate this week after it gained cross-party support with 41 co-signatories. Its three lead sponsors are Judith Cummins of Labour, the Lib Dem’s Tim Farron and Tory Peter Aldous.
Ms Cummings said: “Week after week, the lack of access to NHS Dentistry is raised by MPs from all political parties. The decline of NHS Dentistry is neither irreversible, nor inevitable; it is a political choice.”
Mr Farron added: “It’s great that we’ve managed to secure this much-needed debate so we can hold ministers’ feet to the fire on the dentistry crisis unfolding in our country. It’s time the Government got a grip and fixed this crisis.”
The Mirror’s online petition, hosted by another of our partners, 38 Degrees, has reached 221,000 signatures. The BDA estimates the total NHS dentistry budget is only enough to fund care for half the population in England.
Save NHS Dentistry petition
Sign our petition to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century
Our 3 demands
Everyone should have access to an NHS dentist
More than 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year – more than 1 in 4 adults in England. At the same time 90% of dental practices are no longer accepting new NHS adult patients. Data from the House of Commons Library showed 40% of children didn’t have their recommended annual check-up last year.
Restore funding for dental services and recruit more NHS dentists
The UK spends the smallest proportion of its heath budget on dental care of any European nation. Government spending on dental services in England was cut by a quarter in real terms between 2010 and 2020. The number of NHS dentists is down by more than 500 to 24,151 since the pandemic.
Change the contracts
A Parliamentary report by the Health Select Committee has branded the current NHS dentists’ contracts as “not fit for purpose” and described the state of the service as “unacceptable in the 21st century”. The system effectively sets quotas on the maximum number of NHS patients a dentist can see as it caps the number of procedures they can perform each year. Dentists also get paid the same for delivering three or 20 fillings, often leaving them out of pocket. The system should be changed so it enables dentists to treat on the basis of patient need.
Have you had to resort to drastic measures because you couldn’t access an NHS dentist? Are you a parent struggling to get an appointment for a child? Email [email protected] or call 0800 282591
A Department of Health spokesman said its Dental Recovery Plan includes offering dentists £20,000 golden hellos to work in under-served areas. He added: “We are also strengthening the workforce to ensure everyone who needs one can access an NHS dental appointment.”
Nationwide figures lay bare the scale of the problem. Fewer than 12% of adults saw an NHS dentist last year in some areas, a recent study found. Researchers also found just half of children went for their annual check-up despite it being recommended by the health service. In North Kesteven, Lincs, 11.9% of people have seen a dentist in the past year. This was closely followed by Melton, Leics, where the figure was 14.8% and Tewkesbury, Glos, where it was 14.9%.
The analysis by think-tank Onward follows national figures showing just four in 10 adults saw a dentist in the years 2022 to 2023. It is calling for reforms so that most check-ups would not be carried out by dentists but instead by dental therapists, who should be allowed to work independently.