10 per pent of people in Plymouth 'now on a dental waiting list'
Local Labour MP Luke Pollard has called it 'a tragic story of oral health'
Last updated 7th Nov 2023
It's claimed more than five hundred people went to the A&E at Derriford last year because of tooth decay.
Figures compiled by the city's Labour MP for Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard showed recruitment problems and dentists going private is putting pressure on the system.
In response the Department for Health and Social Care's told us almost two million more adults are now getting NHS dental care, and it'll be setting out more plans soon.
Mr Pollard said figures showed 575 people were forced to attend the Emergency Department at Derriford Hospital last year due to dental decay last year 'as patients across Plymouth find it impossible to get an appointment with an NHS dentist when they need one'.
At University Hospitals Plymouth in 2022/23, 465 patients were seen in the Emergency Department with a dental abscess, caused by tooth decay, and 110 with dental caries. Across the country last year, 67,000 patients attended emergency departments with tooth decay.
Currently, the NHS dental waiting list in Plymouth is over seven years long with approximately 22,000 people on the waiting list – around 10% of the city’s population.
Mr Pollard added: "The number of patients attending A&E with dental decay speaks to the alarming decline of NHS dentistry. Labour’s analysis of patient survey data suggests that 4.75 million people across England were denied an appointment with an NHS dentist in the past two years. Figures show millions of people were either told no appointments were available or that the practice they contacted was not taking on new patients.
"A Labour government has pledged to provide an extra 700,000 urgent dentists appointments and reform the NHS dental contract, as part of a package of measures to rescue NHS dentistry.
“These figures paint a tragic story of oral health for Plymouth. At Derriford Hospital, patients are being forced into the Emergency Department with tooth decay, as they have nowhere else to turn.
“NHS staff at Derriford are working their socks off on emergency cases and they are having to treat patients with dental problems because NHS dentistry in Plymouth is collapsing. That’s not good for patients and piles pressure on NHS staff too.
“We are working on a local plan to fix NHS dentistry but we so desperately need Ministers to wake up to the scale of the crisis and act too.”
Cllr Mary Aspinall, Cabinet Member for Health on Plymouth City Council, added: “These figures speak for themselves and we know emergency community dental services in the city simply cannot meet the daily demand for appointments.
“This is all underlines why we made it a local election pledge to set up a dental taskforce to see how we can work together to try to improve the situation locally.
“Far too many people in Plymouth can’t get an NHS dental appointment when they need one – and all too often the result is severe pain and a trip to the emergency department.
“Plymouth deserves much better – that’s why I welcome Labour’s plan to get NHS dentistry back on its feet.”
In response, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
“We are making progress to boost NHS dental services and the number of children seen by NHS dentists rose by 14% last year. Compared to the previous year, 1.7 million more adults and 800,000 more children are receiving NHS dental care.
“We fund more than £3 billion of NHS dentistry a year and are taking preventative measures to improve oral health, such as expanding water fluoridation schemes. We have also announced plans to increase dental training places by 40% and recently launched a consultation to better utilise the skills of dental hygienists and therapists.
“Further measures to improve access and increase the number of NHS dentists through our dental recovery plan will be set out shortly."