Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough MP Gill Furniss has claimed it is “nearly impossible” for her constituents to register with an NHS dentist.
Gill Furniss has written to Primary Care and Public Health minister Neil O’Brien to express her constituents’ increasing frustration with NHS dentist waiting times.
In her letter, she said: “It is clear that it is nearly impossible to sign up with an NHS dentist at any practice in Sheffield or surrounding areas.
“Several of my constituents have called every dentist practice within reasonable travelling distance and been told none of them will accept them as NHS patients.”
She added patients often would be turned away or given extremely long waiting times, but end up being offered appointments by the same practice immediately if they paid privately.
One constituent responded on Twitter, saying: “I’ve had to resort to paying privately for over a year and a half now and it’s so costly that it makes quality of life difficult.”
It follows a Healthwatch report last year that NHS patients in England were facing up to three years on a waiting list for dentist appointments.
It also revealed that many patients suffered repeatedly cancelled appointments, sometimes even during their treatments.
Some dentists however attribute the problem to their contracts, with one trainee dentist saying that they are only paid for the single most expensive item, rather than the full requirements of any procedure.
He said: “Someone could need a filling, and then also need a denture made. You would be paid for the denture but wouldn’t be paid for the filling as the denture comes in a high-cost bracket.
“Or you could have a patient who needs ten fillings but because it all technically comes under one filling; you’d only be paid for one rather than all of them.”
This pushes dentists to become private as it makes more financial sense, even if it impacts the patients.
On a positive note though for South Yorkshire this year, the number of dentists in the region increased after consecutive years of falling numbers within the profession.
According to NHS data, there are now 62 more dentists across the county bringing the total to 885, meaning there are 1,554 patients per dentist.
