Access to NHS Dentistry

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford.

I, too, congratulate the hon. Members for Waveney (Peter Aldous) and for Bradford South (Judith Cummins) on securing this important debate. Lots of important points have been made about the situation nationally and about the contract, and some solutions have been offered.

I will use the short time available to pay tribute to Healthwatch Richmond, which back in the 2020 was the very first Healthwatch in the whole network to express concerns about dentistry. It was the first to produce a report on it, which prompted Healthwatch England and various local Healthwatches to do so. I pay tribute to Healthwatch Richmond’s lobbying of Healthwatch England and NHS England for bringing us to the point where we have the information to hand and can put pressure on NHS England and on Ministers. I thank Mike Derry for his work.

I also want to give a voice to my constituents. Yes, the London Borough of Richmond is a relatively affluent borough. That does not mean that there is not need and that everyone can afford to go to a private dentist. Our borough has the lowest funding for NHS dentistry in London, apart from the City of London, and the Healthwatch Richmond survey found that less than half of those seeking NHS care could get a routine appointment. One in three could not even access urgent or emergency care; private patients were 16 times more likely to be able to access treatment. Clearly, the problem is not with the supply of dentists, because those who needed to get treatment, if they are able and willing to pay, could access care in the space of a week. Hundreds of others, however, could not access such care.

I want to bring two or three examples to light. Only last month, a resident of Hampton wrote to me. She is a full-time carer for her daughter and they both have special needs. She was tearing her hair out, because she had phoned scores of NHS dental practices but no one would take her daughter. She said:

“I have to use my disability money and my heating money and food money to pay £700.00 to help my daughter. I even wanted my dental practice to give my daughter my place at the practice as she is in so much pain.”

They have various special needs and are concerned, as so many are, about the cost of living crisis—she has heating bills and food bills, but here she is having to pay for care.

Another recently retired individual, whose income dropped significantly in retirement, said that they ended up paying

“£1000 for x-rays and the 30 second removal of the implant! The second dentist I went to in Twickenham quoted me £6k for removal of a wobbly tooth and replacement”.

That is simply not affordable, and it is unfair to say that affluent boroughs such as Richmond do not need additional NHS provision. There are countless more stories. As we have heard, prevention is important. Another resident who wrote to me eventually ended up getting referred to hospital for emergency treatment months after they should have been treated.

I have sympathy for the argument made by the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) that, clearly, there is not a bottomless pit of taxpayer cash allowing everybody as much NHS treatment as they need all the time. We know it is a false economy to restrict NHS access because people are, as he pointed out, ending up in A&E and with far worse problems down the line, which costs the NHS a lot of money.

I agree with what the Father of the House, the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley), said about everybody being entitled to NHS care. I know the Minister will talk about the recent £50 million injection of cash into NHS dentistry, but that will offer just 350,000 appointments. Nine million children missed dental appointments in the year following the first lockdown. The Liberal Democrats are calling for a minimum standard of service, with a personal dental plan that helps people to understand how frequently they need a check-up, gives them good advice on looking after their teeth and, critically, includes access to an NHS dentist. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say to my constituents and millions of others around the country who cannot access the care that they need.