Teesside has been branded a “dental desert” by Labour with only one surgery in the area appearing on an NHS website to accept new adult patients.
The party says data from local NHS dental practices has found no surgeries in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington or Redcar showing as accepting new adult NHS patients without a specialist medical referral, and only one in Stockton accepting such patients.
Labour politicians spoke following a House of Commons debate in which their motion to “rescue” dentistry was defeated.
They proposed 700,000 more urgent dentistry appointments, incentives to recruit dentists to areas most in need, supervised toothbrushing in schools for three to five-year-olds and reform of the NHS dental contract, saying they would fund this plan by abolishing the non-dom tax status allowing the wealthy to live and work in Britain and pay tax overseas.
On the “Find a dentist” section of the NHS website, a search calls up only one surgery with a TS postcode accepting new adult NHS patients, a centre in Stockton. Beyond that, the nearest surgeries are in areas like Newton Aycliffe, Pickering, Newcastle, Jarrow and South Shields.
Other surgeries are either accepting children only, taking new NHS patients only by referral for specialist care, or have not given the website a recent update on whether they are taking new NHS patients. Labour says reform is needed after horror stories of people forced to pull their own teeth out, one in 10 Brits claiming to have attempted their own dental work and some even using pliers.
Wes Streeting, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary said: “Teesside has become a dental desert thanks to this government, with patients finding it impossible to see a dentist, with some having to resort to DIY dentistry. Another five years of the Conservatives will see NHS dentistry gone for good.”
Joe Dancey, Labour’s candidate for the new seat of Stockton West, said: “The rot has to stop. I’ve spoken with countless people desperate to access NHS dentistry without success and now we know why.”
He described meeting one woman from Elm Tree who had to pay hundreds of pounds privately to stop her suffering after she developed a dental abscess after her surgery removed her from NHS coverage. Another in Eaglescliffe was forced to drive to Bishop Auckland for dental care.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “When we talk about health I would say the thing people go straight to is dentistry. The new data proves the anecdotal stuff we’ve all heard. Healthwatch has reported people have been pulling out their own teeth.
“The government needs to change the contract and that’s why we need a plan, which was proposed.”
Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham spoke during the debate in Parliament, raising the impact of pregnancy on oral health. He said: “After being told of the importance of seeing a dentist after suffering multiple miscarriages, a constituent tells me that she has been struggling for three years to see a dentist within a 50-mile radius of her home.
“Dentists say that they are going private and are helping only with emergencies. Surely that is evidence of a colossal failure of Tory government dental policy, and even the most vulnerable are suffering.”
Peter Gibson, Conservative MP for Darlington, said he had received enquiries from almost 200 residents unable to access NHS dentistry, said “further and faster” progress was needed, called for dental training and mobile dentists visiting schools, and suggested a dental school at Teesside University. But he blamed Labour for a regime which was unfair to dentists and patients: “The current NHS contract for dentistry stems from Labour’s reforms of 2006, and has increasingly shown itself to be lacking.”
Public health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom said recovering and reforming NHS dentistry was a top government priority, they were investing £3bn a year in dentistry but money would not be a “silver bullet” to a disastrous situation during Covid. She asserted it had already made a “good recovery” and they heard key figures in the sector “loud and clear” as they drew up their dentistry recovery plan.
She told MPs: “Dental staff deserve our support, which is why we are working flat out on both short and long-term solutions for the recovery and reform of NHS dentistry. We will be fixing some of the fundamental flaws in patient access and health inequalities that have been highlighted and exacerbated by the pandemic.
“I am chomping at the bit to reveal more about our dentistry recovery plan. I need to ask them all to be patient just a little while longer.”
MPs voted 299-191 against Labour’s motion. Anna Turley, Labour parliamentary candidate for Redcar, said later: “The lack of available dentists in Redcar and Teesside is a disgrace. Patients here are being directed to Thirsk and even Jarrow – this is a crisis.”
The party’s parliamentary candidate for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Luke Myer, said: “It’s astonishing that the Tories voted against Labour’s plan. Middlesbrough has some of the worst access to dental care in the country, with over half of children not getting the care they need. 14 years of Conservative government has let decay set in – it’s time for a change.”
Simon Clarke, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: “Good access to dentistry is vital. The NHS is one of the best funded health services in the world and the issues we face are often more complex than can be solved simply with more tax and spend.
“Challenges, including increased demand in areas like Teesside, are well-recognised and improving access is absolutely the government’s priority. The government is about to publish a dentistry recovery plan focusing on better access for new patients and fairer rewards for complex dental care.
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“Recent steps, such as the 8.8% pay uplift for dentists and reducing barriers for overseas dentists to practice in the NHS, are aimed at retaining more professionals and improving service provision. I am also in talks with some local dentists about whether they are able to extend their NHS provision for children in particular, and hope to provide an update soon.”
Jacob Young, Conservative MP for Redcar, said: “We are committed to ensuring that everybody has access to NHS dentistry. Labour’s plan completely missed the point – that’s why it failed.
“In Redcar & Cleveland, the need for accessible NHS dental services requires improvements to the way in which NHS services are structured – that’s why negotiations are ongoing. In the meantime, we are increasing provision and it’s great to see the new expanded NHS dental services operating from Cleveland Retail Park on the Trunk Road.”
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