Action needed to address 'appalling' access to NHS dentistry in Shropshire
The Shadow Health Secretary says he would take action to address the "appalling" state of NHS dentistry, which has left many people unable to secure appointments.
Data collected by the Labour Party shows that of the 22 dental surgeries in Telford, The Wrekin, Shrewsbury & Atcham and North Shropshire, to have provided an update, none are accepting new adult NHS patients.
Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has criticised the state of access NHS dentistry, and set out plans to address the 'Dickensian' situation.
It comes as the Nuffield Trust issued a report saying dentistry is "at its most perilous point in its 75-year history", with access issues, a lack of funding, the pandemic and widening inequalities in oral health causing a "widespread crisis".
The Prime Minister has responded by saying a recovery plan for NHS dentistry in England will be published "in the new year".
Analysis of patient survey data suggests that last year 4.75 million people were either told there were no appointments available or the practice was not taking on new patients, when they last tried to book an appointment.
Healthwatch England has reported horror stories of people forced to pull their own teeth out, with one in ten people claiming to have attempted their own dental work.
Mr Streeting said Labour would raise £111m to spend on improving NHS dentistry by abolishing the non-dom tax status.
He has outlined a number of measures, including 700,000 more urgent appointments for patients in need of things like fillings and root canal, incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, and supervised toothbrushing in schools for three to five year olds, targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay.
