Following a visit to see the ‘Brush Up’ programme at Ark Dickens Primary School, Stephen Morgan has said Labour’s Child Health Action Plan will tackle the crisis in children’s dentistry.
Mr Morgan, Labour’s candidate for Portsmouth South, said Labour’s plans will clear the Tory backlog with 100,000 extra appointments for kids and emergency dental appointments for children.
During the visit to Ark Dickens Primary School, Mr Morgan saw the dental academy’s outreach session called ‘Brush Up’ where students from the academy visit local schools to increase the pupils knowledge of dental health.
Labour has pledged to introduce supervised toothbrushing for 3-to-5 year olds, to tackle the appalling crisis in children’s dentistry.
New figures revealed that the crisis in NHS dentistry under the Conservatives led to 540,000 fewer children seeing a dentist last year than in 2018. On current trends, there will be 5 million fewer dentistry appointments over the next five years if the Conservatives win another term.
One in six children aged 11 have decaying teeth, with 11,000 11-year-olds reporting they are ashamed to speak because of problems with their oral health.
On top of plans for extra urgent dental appointments, Labour’s NHS waiting lists plan will provide extra hospital appointments, scans, and operations for children every year, to beat the Tory backlog.
There are currently 364,000 children on NHS waiting lists for paediatric care, around 150,000 of whom have been waiting more than 18 weeks. Patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks for treatment, but the NHS has missed this target every month since February 2016.
Labour has pledged to clear the backlog of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment within five years, if it forms the next government.
Labour’s plan to beat the backlog includes delivering an extra 100,000 NHS appointments for children at evenings and weekends a year, and doubling the number of NHS scanners with new, AI-enabled scanners. The plan is fully costed and fully funded, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and non-doms.
Labour’s dental rescue plan will provide:
- 100,000 extra urgent and emergency dental appointments a year for children
- Golden hellos to recruit dentists to underserved areas
- Supervised toothbrushing for 3-to-5 year olds for areas most in need
- Reforming the dental contract so everyone who needs an NHS dentist will be able to see one.
The plan will cost £109 million a year and will be paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and non-doms.
Commenting, Labour candidate for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan said:
“It was a pleasure to visit Ark Dickens Primary School today to see the great ‘Brush Up’ programme in action.
“Under the Conservatives, fewer young people in Portsmouth can see a dentist, meaning shockingly one in six children aged 11 now have decaying teeth.
“Labour will deliver a dental rescue plan with an extra 100,000 appointments for children each year and supervised toothbrushing for 3-to-5 year olds to tackle this appalling crisis.”
Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary, said:
“What a tragic indictment on the state of NHS dentistry under the Conservatives, that children are ashamed to speak because of the state of their teeth.
“Labour will provide an extra 100,000 appointments for children a year and supervised toothbrushing for three-to-five year olds, to put a smile back on kids’ faces.”
Mr Morgan is has spent time on the frontline in our city’s health and social care services to hear first-hand the impact of the crisis in NHS dentistry and the dental desert Portsmouth has become.
The Labour candidate has secured more dental appointments for Portsmouth people and helped secure dental academy in our city to train the future NHS workforce.
He has launched his own dental survey to hear concerns which you can fill out here: https://www.stephenmorgan.org.uk/dentist/
