We must see action on dental crisis

6.52.03pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 3rd Jul 2008

Liz Leffman discussing the dental crisis with dentist Dave Evans

Action must now be taken to improve the NHS dental crisis following the critical Commons Health Committee report, according to Prospective MP for Meon Valley Liz Leffman.

The new dental contract, introduced in 2006, was intended to simplify charges and make it easier to find an NHS dentist. Instead, it has created mass inequality in dental provision and has seen the number of patients seen fall by 900,000 in 18 months.

Meon Valley Lib Dems have conducted surveys which show that, at one point, up to 64 per cent of people in the constituency were unable to register with an NHS dentist.

Liz said: "The Commons Health Committee report is a damning indictment on the ability of this government to effectively run health services.

"I have been demanding an urgent review into why the reforms of two years ago have done so little to improve access since September, but I have yet to see a response that shows the dental crisis is being taken seriously.

"Perhaps now the Committee Chairman has condemned the situation as a 'failure', people may sit up and take notice."

Liz added: "I still say the way forward is to give Primary Care Trusts the flexibility to employ NHS dentists, as well as contracting with private practices, to increase the number of dentists available, and scrap check-up charges to put the emphasis back onto preventative care."