Local dentist crisis gets worse

5.28.44pm GMT Mon 14th Feb 2005

Martin Tod has surveyed all dentists in North West Hampshire in order to understand the issues facing NHS dentistry.

NHS dental care in Hampshire is in crisis as new figures show that over two in three adults and around half of children are not registered with an NHS dentist.

In North West Hampshire, the number of dentists accepting NHS patients is also falling. In less than a year, the number of dentists accepting children as NHS patients has fallen from 11 to 9, and the number of dentists accepting adults as new NHS patients from 11 to 7.

Hampshire's disappearing dental coverage has seen the number of adults registered with an NHS dentist fall from over 62% in 1992, to 51% in 1997 to just 32% today. Since 1997, the number of Children registered with NHS dentists has fallen from nearly 66% to below 55%.

Hampshire is now the 4th worst area in the country for having adults registered with an NHS dentist.

Commenting on the figures, Martin Tod, North West Hampshire local Liberal Democrat campaigner, said: "Local dental services are in total crisis. It is very worrying that so many children are missing out on NHS dental care."

"This is one of the Government's big failures. At the 1999 Labour party conference, Tony Blair promised that everyone within the next two years would be able to see an NHS dentist just by phoning NHS Direct. He has failed to deliver" said Mr Tod.

The Labour government has failed to get to grips with a problem which began under a Conservative government when, in 1992, the Department of Health decided to cut the fees it was paying to dentists (first by 23%, and then by 7%).

"The people of North West Hampshire have been badly let down by both Tory and Labour governments. The Government must tackle this problem urgently, especially for children. Every patient deserves the right to be able to register with a local NHS dentist" commented Mr Tod. "The Government loves to talk about patient choice, but when it comes to finding a dentist, many people have no choice at all".