The alarming truth of the state of NHS dentistry: why are very few practices not accepting new patients?

NHS dentistry has been a continuing problem for the people of Cornwall. The damage done to the NHS, particularly NHS dentistry by the previous Conservative government was vast, leaving many people who could not afford to opt for private dental care to be left without.

There are 14 dental practices in St Austell and Newquay, with 10 of that 14 delivering NHS treatments and seeing NHS patients. The alarming truth of the state of NHS dentistry is that of the 62 practices across Cornwall, 55 are not accepting new patients aged 18 or over.

It is this, when considering the volume of constituents that write to me regarding their difficulties in getting an NHS dental appointment as well as my own experiences and troubles attempting to get an NHS dental appointment in Cornwall, well and truly make the severe nature of the situation clear. NHS England’s own statistics have shown that public confidence in the state of NHS dentistry is down, with 30 per cent of people not even trying to get an NHS dental appointment due to an expectation that they would not be able to. This needs to change.

The fact that we can have cases where a child can make it to the age of 8 without ever having had an appointment with a dentist goes to show the amount of damage that the last Conservative government did to the NHS - damage which has had a particularly devastating effect to dentistry in Cornwall. The scheme set out by the previous Conservative government failed to make the situation any better nor restore confidence, as the number of treatments being performed did not increase beyond the level it would have been expected to without the scheme. Labour’s plan to provide an extra 700,000 NHS dental appointments each year will help the people of Cornwall feel confident that they can get an appointment with an NHS dentist again - or see one for the first time in the case of the children who have gone the entirety of their lives so far without ever having seen a dentist.

Children not being able to get a dentist appointment is one of my primary concerns for Cornwall, with the NHS’s own figures revealing that 85 per cent of NHS dentists in Cornwall are not accepting new patients aged 17 or under, with not a single practice in North Cornwall accepting child patients. This will change under this Labour Government, with the Budget announcing £27.5-billion over this year and next to go towards getting the NHS back on its feet, and ensuring that the people of Cornwall will be able to not only get a NHS dentist appointment, but will also once again feel confident in the knowledge that the NHS is ready and available for everyone in Cornwall when they need it.

Noah Law

Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay