An MP has claimed that his constituents have been left ‘stranded’ and unable to find an NHS dentist.
Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West, raised the issue in the House of Commons last week.
He said: ‘It is not necessarily because [dentists] are greedy, it is just because the national NHS contract does not allow them to see as many NHS patients as they might want to.
‘That has left many families to rely on private services, which are often expensive’.
This comes after the BBC revealed that the south west of England is one of the worst places in the country for access to NHS dentistry.
Along with Yorkshire and the Humber and the north west of England, 98% of practices in those areas are not accepting adult patients.
In addition, the south west of England is the worst area for children, with 95% of patients unable to accept them.
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Exodus of dentists
This comes after Bupa Dental Care recently announced its plan to close, sell or merge 85 dental practices in the UK. The reason given was due to the ‘national shortage of dentists and the impact of inflation’.
The news came as we saw the official opening of the parliamentary inquiry into the state of NHS dentistry. This saw the Health and Social Care Committee receive ‘brutally honest’ oral evidence on the state of NHS dentistry from dental leaders.
Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association (BDA) General Practice Committee, attended the first session into the inquiry.
He said: ‘The recent changes do not come close to a reformed contract. These are minor tweaks. They will not stop the exodus of dentists and their teams from the NHS.
‘The fundamental barrier has been funding,’ he also said. ‘There is only enough NHS dentistry commissioned in this country for 50% of the population.’
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