Scarborough councillor raises concerns over ‘immoral’ lack of access to dental care
A local councillor in Scarborough has raised concerns over an “immoral” lack of access to dental care in the area.
Councillor Tony Randerson made the statement at a recent meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee while discussing access to dental care for children. Mr Randerson said that children should not be left without a dentist and pushed for the council to apply more pressure to the government to identify solutions.
In response, Simon Hearnshaw, from NHS England, said that the body was working incredibly hard to try and improve access, which is an issue facing several regions. NHS England is trying to encourage dentists to move to coastal areas through incentives but it is currently very difficult to fill vacancies.
Cllr Randerson accused the government of failing to protect the most vulnerable and ensure that everyone has access to affordable dental care, using the example of a patient who had called him after being advised to take his 6-year-old son to a private dentist at a cost of between £25 and £100. NHS dental care is free of charge for children but there are very few practices taking on new patients in the region.
Debbie Pattinson, from NHS England, explained that commissioning services are facing an ‘unprecedented’ challenge, as many practices are handing back NHS contracts and prioritising private patients. There are plans to launch a new out-of-hours service in Scarborough in the autumn and appoint a new dentist to provide urgent care for patients who were left without a dentist in Eastfield when the previous practitioner left earlier this year.
Join this Discussion