MP Tim Farron calls for further investment to improve dental services in South Lakes
South Lakes MP, Tim Farron, has called for further investment to improve access to local dental services.
Mr Farron, who appealed for funding to create more NHS dental places in the area last year, said that efforts to improve access have been unsuccessful and described the situation as being “at breaking point.”
The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale said that he had received five letters from elderly residents asking where they can go to see a dentist because they cannot get an appointment at a local NHS surgery, and they can’t afford to go private. One dentist in the area has switched to private patients, and there’s a shortage of places that is impacting children, adults and the elderly.
Mr Farron demanded urgent government action to make NHS contracts more appealing, after it was confirmed that nobody had come forward to express an interest in taking on a new contract in Kendal. Recruitment issues are becoming increasingly widespread, and the British Dental Association has expressed concerns that the situation will get worse in the next five years, as a large proportion of dentists are planning to retire or go private.
The latest statistics show that less than 50% of adults in Cumbria have seen a dentist in the last 24 months. In November, a report by the Westmorland Gazette suggested that patients in South Lakes had been advised to travel to Appleby or Grange to get an appointment.
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