Long Waiting Lists For Dental treatment In North Wales
Patients are being forced to join lengthy waiting lists in North Wales, it has been revealed.
According to NHS Direct, only one in five dental practices in the region are taking on new NHS patients. Only 22 practices were accepting new patients from more than 100 surgeries in the area.
The situation in Anglesey is particularly worrying, as none of the island’s 15 dental practices are accepting new patients, in Conwy, eight of the 17 practices are taking on new patients, while patients in Llandudno may be forced to wait up to 2 years to see an NHS dentist.
The shortest waiting times were found in Wrexham, Flintshire and Gwynedd, with some patients able to secure an appointment within two weeks of registering.
Janet Finch-Saunders, AM for Aberconwy, said that many people had contacted her to raise concerns about access to dental care in Llandudno and surrounding rural villages, she said that people have found it very difficult to register with a dentist and waiting lists in the area are too long.
Stuart Geddes, head of the British Dental Association in Wales, said that health boards are struggling to cope with demand for dental services as a result of the last dental contract, he added that it is very difficult because there is no new funding available for dental care and called for changes to be made to improve access to NHS dental treatment.
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