“It is a national scandal that people are forced to pull their own teeth out because our public health services have been starved of funding”
The number of people who’ve seen an NHS dentist in Hertfordshire has plummeted in recent years, shocking new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
40.5% of adults in Hertfordshire were able to secure an appointment with an NHS dentist in the past two years. This is down from 52.1% who saw an NHS dentist in the two years up to 2018.
In a similarly desperate situation, only 52.4% of children in Hertfordshire have been able to see a dentist in the last 12 months, despite the NHS recommending under-18s see a dentist at least once a year. This is down from 63% of children who had seen an NHS dentist in the year to 2018.
The stark figures were compiled by the House of Commons Library following a request by the Liberal Democrats.
It comes as distressing polling has found that one in five (21%) adults unable to see a dentist have carried out DIY dentistry in a desperate attempt to relieve their pain.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to set out an NHS winter rescue plan this week as soon as Parliament returns, to provide urgent help to those living in dental agony. This would also include immediate action to reduce dangerously long ambulance waiting times and speed up access to healthcare for the almost seven million people stuck on NHS waiting lists.
Daisy Cooper MP said:
“It is now or never to save our NHS from a winter of crisis that will put patients at risk. This heartbreaking rise in DIY dentistry is further evidence that this Government simply doesn’t care about our vital local health services. It is a national scandal that people are forced to pull their own teeth out because our public health services have been starved of funding.
“It is one health crisis after another with this Conservative Government. NHS services are crumbling after years of failure and mismanagement by Conservative Ministers.
“This has to be the week that Ministers finally clean up their mess and set out a plan to get the people, beds and buildings that our health and social care services desperately need and which the British public deserves.
“We need to see an urgent plan to recruit more staff, increase the number of available beds and once and for all invest in crumbling buildings. Anything less will let dangerous waiting times spiral even further out of control.”
Full data from the House of Commons Library on the number of adults and children seeing an NHS dentist by area is available here.
Original source: NHS Dental Statistics (Annual reports 2017-18 – 2021-22).