With the shortage of NHS dentists in North Wales forcing people to travel to Scotland and eastern Europe for treatment, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has urged the Welsh Government to address the crisis.
Speaking in this Senedd Chamber this week, Darren said finding an NHS dentist in Wales is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Supporting the calls that have been made for a dentistry school in North Wales, he spoke of the dental practices in his constituency which has stopped providing an NHS service, and the desperate situation this is leaving people in.
He said:
“When I first became a Member of this Senedd, 17 years ago, most people in my constituency were able to get six monthly check-ups at a dentist, whereas now I've got people travelling literally to Scotland to see an NHS dentist and to places like Albania, Turkey and other parts of eastern Europe in order to get their dental treatment sorted. That is clearly an unacceptable situation.
“I've seen many people affected by the withdrawal from NHS dentistry by dental practices in my own constituency, in Ruthin, in Colwyn Bay, and the other places, like Llandudno, that recently announced some changes. I have constituents who were previously registered at that practice and in Rhyl, where another one exited from NHS dentistry as well. So, this is a real, acute and growing problem.”
He also spoke of the inequity of the urgent dental service, with “the threshold for accessing those services far too high”.
He said:
“People are not able to get the treatment that they need, and very often I'm afraid they're being left in terrible pain without the ability to see somebody.”
Darren also pointed out that without access to NHS dentistry people are not being checked for things like mouth cancers, and raised concern about access to orthodontic treatment for young people.
He said:
“In North Wales, I have constituents - young people - who have been waiting for over 200 weeks in order to access orthodontic treatment. That's nearly four years. When you're a young person and you have an orthodontic need that impacts on your physical appearance, it can be absolutely devastating for you socially, in school or in college, or in other places. And of course it's more difficult to fix an orthodontic problem if you get to it too late, as the teeth continue to grow in the wrong position.
He said the new contract introduced in Wales has caused a bigger exodus from NHS dentistry than was previously taking place and urged the Cabinet Secretary, “to take a fresh look at this issue, to work with the British Dental Association, and to speak and listen to patients about their first-hand experiences”
He said:
“Do not just accept the assurances that are being given by health boards, which of course will try to present a rosy picture about the situation in their own area, and make sure that we finally, once and for all, get to grips with this problem, because, at the moment, it's like searching for a needle in a haystack, trying to find an NHS dentist, for too many people across this country, and that has got to change”.
