According to analysis by the Nuffield Trust, nearly 600 dentist practices have stopped delivering NHS dentistry over the last ten years. Dorset is the fourth worst affected, with a 20.4% reduction in the number of practices offering NHS services.
This will come as no surprise to anyone living in West Dorset, where getting an NHS appointment is as close to impossible as it gets.
My inbox is full of stories of people suffering with unimaginable pain, unable to find an appointment anywhere. In fact I recently had one constituent tell me that when they looked on the NHS portal to try and find an emergency appointment, they were told their closest was Bristol – and in the time it took for them to work out if they could get there, it had already gone.
I have had reports of children missing school, and stories of people resorting to removing their own teeth.
It is why I, and my South Dorset neighbour MP Lloyd Hatton, have been pushing so hard for a new NHS dentistry school to be set up in either Dorchester or Weymouth.
I have also been pushing for a change in the rules to mandate that a trainee dentist can only do NHS work while in training – this would dramatically increase the number of appointments locally.
I also want to ensure that all of Dorst’s NHS dentistry budget gets spent. My Mid-Dorset & North Poole colleague recently highlighted that as much as £17m went unspent last year. That is money for NHS dentistry serviceS, funded but not delivered.
I met with the Minister for Care several times to push for improvements in Dorset NHS dentistry, the need for a local training school and changes to training rules, and he was extremely receptive. Sadly, as so often happens with the change of Prime Minister, we have got a change of Minister too: and so the work begins again.
I have written to the new Minister to outline the appalling state of NHS dentistry in Dorset, and I have requested a meeting. It will take time before we start to see any improvement, but it will take even longer if we don’t act now.
I hope the new Minister will be moved to action.
Edward Morello MP for West Dorset
