Waiting lists of up to 350 for NHS dental treatment

12.01.06pm GMT Thu 18th Dec 2008

A new survey conducted by Liz Leffman, the prospective Lib Dem MP, has revealed that 58% of people still cannot find an NHS dentist, in spite of promises from the local Primary Care Trust that new NHS places would be created. And a spot check on local dentists has revealed that the few that are taking on patients have waiting lists of up to 350 people, and that it could take nine months to get an appointment.

Previous surveys have been conducted in Bishops Waltham, Whiteley and Wickham, and the Bishops Waltham Citizens Advice Bureau has also published its own report on the desperate situation faced by people in rural communities. But this new survey shows that the problem is not just in the more isolated rural areas. It affects people in the towns of Horndean and Waterlooville as well.

"In spite of huge publicity, including a television programme filmed in Bishops Waltham on the subject, we are still seeing very little progress." said Liz Leffman. "The Primary Care Trust has at last recognised that there is a real need for more NHS provision in the Bishops Waltham area. But the problem is far more extensive than that. I recently rang a number of dentists in the Waterlooville area. The only practice that was willing to take on new NHS patients had a waiting list of 350, and said that it would be another 9 months before an appointment would become available."

"The news that NHS dentists may be overcharging is secondary to the fact that a great many people in Meon Valley cannot find a dentist at all." she added. "And there is little hope of this changing as long as the Government's current system for contracting with dentists remains in place"