Stephen Morgan MP has spent time on the frontline of a city dental practice to hear first-hand the impact of the crisis in NHS dentistry and the dental desert Portsmouth has become.
Spending time at Smile Dental Care in Buckland, which has been open just over a year and is in the process of expanding, Mr Morgan met with the practice and business managers, a dentist and other staff, to listen to concerns and ideas about the current problems gripping both the practice and NHS dentistry.
Key issues also raised with the City MP included the need for more flexible commissioning of NHS dental services and challenging regulations around foreign entry into the British dental workforce.
It comes as the Association of Dental Groups has published a six-point plan to fix British dentistry and improve services for patients. It includes:
- Increase the number of training places in the UK
- Continued recognition of EU trained dentists
- Recognition of overseas qualifications
- Simplify and speed up the process for dentists to get an NHS “performer number”
- Allow more dental care professionals (DCPs) to initiate treatments
- Dental system reform with new ways of working to retain staff in the NHS
Last month, Smile Dental Care practice had 198 patients fail to turn up for their appointments, resulting in 68.75 hours of surgery time being wasted, which could have been used for other patients. The practice has also reported unacceptable abuse of staff as a growing concerning.
Following the time on the frontline, as part of his latest efforts to work with others to raise and resolve issues around access to NHS services, the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, said:
“It’s been useful to spend time on the frontline and see first-hand the current challenges a dental practice in our city is facing and to listen to concerns and ideas about what can be done to resolve them.
“Our city has become a dental desert and it is clear from seeing the problems for myself and speaking to those who deal with them on a daily basis that we must recruit and retain the workforce and reform the contracts that determine the services in our community to get British dentistry back on track.
“I will be taking what I’ve learnt from the time at the dental practice back to Parliament to ensure Portsmouth patients finally get access to the NHS dental services they need and deserve.”
