Most Local Dental Practices Refuse NHS Care, Survey Shows. Half Of Eastleigh Residents Are Unregistered

11.56.39am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 30th Nov 2004

Fewer than half of Eastleigh people are registered with an NHS dentist and nearly three quarters of the twenty dental practices in the borough now refuse adult NHS patients, according to a survey by Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne.

Mr Huhne said the lack of NHS dentistry was a continuing crisis with little prospect of improvement especially as the National Audit Office had just thrown doubt on the Government's plans for a new dentistry contract to remedy the situation.

Mr Huhne contacted all the 20 dental practices in the borough and found that only six would take on adult patients, although twelve - a little more than half - would still deal with children on the NHS.

"Given that the latest government figures show that only 48 per cent of the population in the Eastleigh and Test Valley South NHS primary care trust is registered, this means that more than half of Eastleigh's population face potentially painful and damaging problems with their teeth" said Mr Huhne.

"Almost everyday we are warned of the dangers of the modern diet and are told to look after our teeth by thorough cleaning and regular checkups. This is all well and good for those who can afford to pay but what about those who can't?" said Mr Huhne.

"This is one of the Government's big failures. Remember that at the 1999 Labour party conference, Tony Blair promised that everyone within the next two years would be able to see an NHS dentist just by phoning NHS direct. But NHS dentists are almost as hard to find as Iraq's weapons of mass destruction" said Mr Huhne.

"In Eastleigh, the cost of a non-NHS check up can vary from £22 to over £37.00, and that's if you're lucky. Further treatment is likely to cost the average household an arm and a leg".

"These figures come as no surprise to those of us who have been talking to the people of Eastleigh. It is a story I hear every day" said Mr Huhne.

The Labour government has failed to get to grips with a problem which began under a Conservative government when, in 1992, the Department of Health decided to cut the fees it was paying to dentists (first by 23%, and then by 7%). "The people of Eastleigh have been let down by both Tory and Labour governments. Every patient deserves the right to be able to register with a local NHS dentist" said Mr Huhne

Reforms aimed at ensuring more people have access to NHS dentists are at risk of failing, the National Audit Office says. A shake-up in NHS dentistry will come into force next October in a bid to move towards more preventative work. But the NAO said dentists may end up cutting their NHS commitments because of scepticism and a lack of detail about the changes.

"Ministers need to keep dentists informed and engaged over the new contract, to ensure that it does not make matters worse. They must ensure that local primary care trusts like Eastleigh and Test Valley south have support to provide better access to NHS dentistry. Ministers are forever talking about patient choice. When it comes to finding a dentist, many people here have no choice at all" said Mr Huhne.

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