Devon MPs call for improvements to county dental services
They've said the local ICB needs to 'up their game'
MPs across Devon have come together to call on the county’s Integrated Care Board to ‘up their game’ in providing NHS dental care.
They've pointed out problems with the dental contract, issues in recruitment and retention, and issues with accessing care locally.
In the House of Commons today (Thursday 22nd May), Liberal Democrat members have slammed the previous Government in their handling of the county’s NHS dental contract.
According to the most recent NHS Statistics, only 50.8% of children covered by the Devon ICB have seen their dentist in the period 2022-2023 (the last period for which there is data), and only 39.5% of adults have seen their dentist in the last two years up to that date.
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, whose constituency crosses the Devon-Somerset Border and encompasses the area of lowest provision in the United Kingdom (as per NAO figures from 2024), said:
“In the face of people not being able to access dental care, the Government and local ICBs need to step up to the plate, and I am proud of my party and colleagues for standing up for our constituents together on this issue.
Dental care in the South West of England is simply not good enough, and without wholesale reform to the dental contract, and the way in which NHS dentistry is prioritised, patients will continue to have to fight simply to access much needed dental care.
The Devon ICB must take note of this urgent priority, and I will continue to press forward on this issue with them in the near future.”
Ian Roome, MP for North Devon, said: “Access to NHS dentistry in Devon has collapsed.
"Fewer NHS dentists, more patients, and thousands struggling to get seen, with some even turning to DIY dentistry. It’s shocking and it’s avoidable. That’s why I set up the North Devon Dental Steering Group, bringing together NHS dentists, ICB commissioners, Council leads, and others to tackle this crisis head-on.
"We’re working on everything from oral health promotion to targeted dentist recruitment, even succeeding in getting a free dentistry course set up at our local college, Petroc. But there’s only so much we can do without the Government stepping up. If the Government is serious about saving the NHS, it must deliver the urgent reform dentistry needs.”
Richard Foord, MP for Honiton and Sidmouth, said: “In 2023/24, one in 460 people in the South West had no choice but to go to A&E with a dental problem, nearly twice as many as in London.
A Liberal Democrat dental rescue package would bring dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by fixing the broken NHS dental contract.”
Martin Wrigley, MP for Newton Abbot, said:
“Newton Abbot residents regularly tell me getting an NHS dentist appointment is near impossible in Devon. The lack of dentists is so bad that it is having a real knock on impact to our emergency care and causing other health issues.
"The legacy of the previous Conservative Government left our dental system in a mess, especially in our coastal communities where primary healthcare is already stretched and limited.”
Torbay MP Steve Darling said:
“The dental desert in Torbay is raised time and time again by residents. It is shameful that less than 10% of the £377,000 budget to recruit new dentists to Devon has been spent, securing only 2 out of the possible 22 placements.
"This has been Described by Devon ICB themselves as a relative success compared to the national picture, clearly demonstrating that the previous Conservative government’s ‘Golden Hello’ scheme has failed tremendously.
"The new government need to urgently deploy a fit for purpose dental contract that will encourage recruitment and invest in our primary care providers in Devon.”
Lib Dem MPs also urged the Government to reconsider the National Insurance status of NHS providers, including dentists. Caroline Voaden, MP for South Devon, said:
“The Government carried out no impact assessment on how their changes to National Insurance would hit our dentists, but my constituents in South Devon will certainly have to bear that impact.
"The Government need to urgently reassess our call for health care providers to be exempted from their painful jobs tax, and commit to turning around this shameful situation in NHS dentistry.”