British Dental Association criticises Richard Madeley over GMB comments
The British Dental Association has criticised Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley over comments he made about NHS dentists on Tuesday 22nd November.
Speaking about the current access crisis, which is making it difficult for patients to get NHS dental appointments, Mr Madeley suggested that NHS dentists lack the training necessary to carry out routine procedures. The host said that “NHS dentists are not capable of doing extractions anymore” and went on to say that dentists are “simply not trained up to that level.”
Mr Madeley also stated that it was “categorical fact” that dentists are not extracting teeth and are giving patients antibiotics and referring them to casualty departments instead.
The BDA has hit out at the claims, stressing that NHS dentists do have the relevant training to extract teeth and pointing out that only complex cases are referred to hospital services. Accident and Emergency departments are not geared up to treat dental patients and dentists have criticised Mr Madeley for making suggestions that will only increase pressure on NHS providers.
Chair of the BDA, Eddie Crouch, labelled the comments as a “grotesque misrepresentation” of the situation and described his “categorical facts” as “pure fiction.” Dentists have the training required to treat the vast majority of patients but they are being let down by the government, which is not providing adequate funding to keep NHS services running efficiently, he suggested.
The BDA has asked Richard Madeley to go on record to correct the inaccuracies in his statements.
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