NHS dentistry in ‘crisis of access’, warn MPs

NHS dentistry is facing ‘a crisis of access’, MPs have warned, with people being forced to drive hundreds of miles for treatment or even resorting to pulling out their own teeth in desperation.

The damning report by the Health and Social Care Committee has called for “urgent and fundamental” reform.

The probe by the committee was prompted by a BBC Newsnight investigation last year that found eight in 10 NHS practices were not taking on children and that in a third of more than 200 council areas, no dentists were taking on adult NHS patients. Researchers were unable to find a single practice accepting new adult NHS patients in Lancashire, Norfolk, Devon or Leeds.

Recommendations for reform made 15 years ago by the committee had still not been carried out, the MPs pointed out.

Committee chair MP Steve Brine said: “Rarely has an inquiry been more necessary than this one. To hear of someone in such pain and distress that they resorted to using pliers to extract their teeth demonstrates the crisis in NHS dental services.

“The problem is compounded by people being unaware of what they’re entitled to and a contract that is unfit for purpose when it comes to paying dentists for treating NHS patients. Today we register in the strongest terms possible our concern for the future of NHS dental services and the patients who desperately need access to them.

“Declining levels of NHS dentistry activity should have been sounding alarm bells, as should a projected budget underspend of £400 million.

“What’s particularly frustrating is that recommendations made by our predecessor Committee 15 years ago to reform the dental contract have still not been implemented. Yet contract reform alone is unlikely to bring back dentists who have already left the NHS or are considering leaving in the near future,” he added.

The committee also pointed out that, during the course of its inquiry, the government had announced a “recovery plan” for NHS dental services, though this has yet to be published.

“We hope the plan has the scope to meet the government’s ambition and is accompanied by the necessary funding and swift implementation,” it added.

Dan Crook, protection sales director at health insurer Canada Life, warned that the crisis is affecting workplaces, with increased absenteeism and presenteeism occurring where people are suffering from dental problems but also increased demand for insurance-based dentistry alternatives.

The report painted “a bleak picture” for those waiting for treatments or appointments. “We therefore need to get creative and find a solution for our employer customers,” he added.