As part of her long running campaign to end the crisis in NHS Dentistry, Mary Kelly Foy MP has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, urging him to adopt the “fundamental reforms” recommended by the Health and Social Care committee.
In her letter Mary said:
“The report’s findings echo the experience of hundreds of constituents who have contacted me about the struggles they face when trying to access affordable dental care. Vast areas of our country, including Durham, are increasingly being described as “dental deserts”, where not a single dental practice is accepting new NHS patients.
Despite repeated promises from ministers that the department will outline further reform measures to the dental contract, the government’s long-term NHS Workforce Plan did not mention the NHS dental contract. While we wait for action, countless people are left to suffer, unable to access or afford dental services and, in some cases, even forced to resort to do-it-yourself dentistry.”
The report, authored by a cross-party committee of MPs, provides a damning indictment of the mismanagement of dentistry services in England which have seen over one thousand dentists leave the NHS in recent years, creating significant barriers for many looking to access affordable dentistry.
The reports key recommendations include:
- Scrapping the discredited NHS dental contract
- Focusing on Prevention
- Ensuring anyone who needs a dentist us able to access one within a reasonable time frame and distance.
Mary has been spearheading campaigns alongside the British Dentistry Association to improve Durham’s dental services, conducting a constituency wide dentistry survey, holding a parliamentary debate on worsening services in the area ( Mary Kelly Foy MP’s plea to improve dental services in County Durham | The Northern Echo) , and calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to correct the record after repeatedly misleading the house of commons by stating there are more dentists in the NHS, contrary to official figures.
Mary has written how she believes the next Labour Government should fix NHS Dentistry here: (People are pulling their own teeth out — Labour must urgently fix NHS dentistry – LabourList | Latest UK Labour Party news, analysis and comment
