Dental surgery where Sunak launched recovery plan is closed to new patients
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The dental surgery that Rishi Sunak visited to launch the Government’s recovery plan is not accepting new NHS patients.
The Prime Minister met staff and patients at Gentle Dental in Newquay on Thursday to promote the flagship plan to bolster NHS dentistry.
Mr Sunak said “the announcements this week will make a significant difference, and quickly.”
However, the same practice’s website states that it is not taking new adult NHS patients or accepting anyone entitled to free dental care.
The Prime Minister’s £200 million plan, unveiled on Wednesday, includes cash incentives for dentists to deliver NHS care, such as £20,000 “golden hello” payments to move to areas in most need, as well as up to £50 for treating patients who have not had an appointment in the past two years.
“It’s a very significant new investment in dentistry so that everyone can get the access that they need,” Mr Sunak said. “This is going to be rolled out imminently and two and a half million more appointments to take us up to pre-Covid levels of NHS dentistry, I think, is a significant step.”
He admitted that “it hasn’t been easy enough for people to access NHS dentistry over the past couple of years”, and stopped short of guaranteeing it would give everyone access to an NHS dentist.
New data published on Thursday by the Government revealed that the number of children having emergency tooth extractions in hospitals had risen by 17 per cent in a year.
More than 31,100 teeth had to be extracted from under-19s in 2022-23 because of tooth decay, up from 26,700 the year before, although this is lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said it was “harming children’s start to life” and “costing the NHS through the nose”.
He said that ministers had blocked NHS plans, initially proposed by Labour, to provide “supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds”.
The Government will still deploy mobile dental teams to schools to provide education, support and preventative fluoride varnish treatments to strengthen the teeth of those in need.
Earlier this week, hundreds of people queued outside a dental practice in Bristol after it became the first surgery in the city for more than half a year to accept NHS patients.
Industry leaders said the queues would be replicated around the country if more practices were taking on NHS patients.
Eddie Crouch, the chairman of the British Dental Association, said Mr Sunak was “seeing what life is like for millions across this country”.
“The difference is he has options. The PM won’t have to queue around the block to get an appointment. He won’t face travelling hundreds of miles for care. He’ll never find himself reaching for a set of pliers,” Mr Crouch said.
“The paucity of the Government’s plan means many patients will keep facing these horrific choices.”
