…By Henry George for TDPel Media.
According to an article in The Independent, MPs have been hearing that some patients are travelling hundreds of miles for NHS dental care due to the dire state of the service in England.
Sarah Fletcher, CEO of Healthwatch Lincolnshire, told the MPs that call handlers for her organisation have described having “palpitations” because they are unable to help patients trying to access dental care.
Fletcher explained that people call her organisation daily trying to seek help accessing care.
She said that patients are being forced to choose between heating and dental care. Public health minister Neil O’Brien admitted the system needs to be “overhauled”.
The lack of dentistry is something that as a Healthwatch we hear every day.
Our team are in despair, they don’t know what to tell people when they contact us
Ms Fletcher called for an overhaul of the system and for guaranteed access to dental care for all.
She told the committee that the lack of dentistry is a daily issue for Healthwatch, with callers often asking for help finding an NHS dentist.
She called for a national oral health assessment which would lead to a reformed system where everyone is guaranteed a point of entry.
Mr O’Brien said that the government’s aim was to restore levels of dental activity after the pandemic and improve the service.
He acknowledged that there is a lot to fix in NHS dentistry and said that reforms will include making NHS work “more attractive” to dentists, and prevention work.
He said that his ambition is to get back to a good level of provision and to do quite a thorough overhaul of the contract and the current system because he believes that is what is needed.
The British Dental Association has called for urgent reform of the NHS dentistry system.
Its chairman, Eddie Crouch, said that millions remain unable to secure the care they need, and that the system requires sustainable funding.
He said that instead, patients who need it most have been hit with a charge hike, and an exodus of dentists is still in motion.