Access to Dentistry: Somerset
Debate between Helen Morgan and Anna Sabine(2 days, 5 hours ago)
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Anna Sabine
Yes. That is one of the things I have talked about extensively—or rather I have been talked at extensively by my dentist friend about the way in which we manage staff and who does which bits of work in dentistry. It is really important that the Government engage with the British Dental Association about that to understand some of the complexity of how the contracts are working at the moment and what could be improved.
If we do not deal with people’s dental pain, we get more pressure on the NHS in the long term: cancers go undiagnosed, and people are forced to use 111 or A&E. It cannot make sense that people have to use 111 to organise their dentistry if they do not have an NHS dentist. People are simply being pushed around the system instead of being treated and instead of illness being prevented. I absolutely understand and appreciate the financial situation the Government inherited from the Conservative Administration, but I am concerned that not enough is happening fast enough on dentistry.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
The previous Government tried to tackle this problem by offering golden hellos to dentists in rural areas to encourage the uptake of NHS dentistry, but in reality that did not work. What we really need the new Government to do is to advance at pace with renegotiating the dental contract. Does my hon. Friend agree that if the new Government can get on with that rapidly, we might see an improvement in rural areas and, indeed, the whole UK?
Anna Sabine
I do agree. Golden hellos are all very well, but the challenge—as I hear from dentists in my constituency—is that once dentists leave NHS dentistry and go into the private sector, which more and more are doing, nothing will ever get them back again. That is a loss that we do not recover from.