DENTISTS

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Half of England's dentists cannot see unregistered patients urgently for toothaches despite a pledge by Tony Blair six years ago. Which? magazine found more than half of the people who tried to register with an NHS dentist in the last two years found it difficult, equating to more than 4million people. Which? heard from one woman who was seven months pregnant when she suffered a severe toothache for a week. She said she was unable to get an appointment and when she rang NHS Direct they said the nearest NHS dentist that could register her was 48 miles away. She ended up being seen in A&E with a tooth infection which, if untreated, could have harmed her own health and that of her unborn child.

Health Minister Rosie Winterton said things were being done to improve the situation. She said, "All primary care trusts have action plans to enable more people to see an NHS dentist, and some include the international recruitment of dentists. There are some 200 internationally recruited dentists already working in the NHS. This is a way of easing problems in the short term, but is just one part of a huge programme of reform which includes unprecedented investment, new ways of working, 1,000 extra dentists by October 2005 and 170 extra undergraduate training places."

John Renshaw, chair of the British Dental Association, said, "NHS dentistry is in crisis and... if anything, the situation is getting worse. While spending on the NHS overall has increased by 75% over the past 15 years, spending on NHS dentistry has increased by just 9%. With this chronic under-investment, alongside a shortage of around 3,000 dentists nationwide, it's hardly surprising that patients are experiencing such difficulty in accessing NHS care." Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley added, "Access to NHS dentistry has collapsed and not just because of the lack of dentists. Labour have failed to establish a contract, which makes it worthwhile for a majority of dentists to offer NHS dentistry." (Source: BBC News)

Department of Health figures reveal that half of people in England do not have a NHS dentist. They show just 44% of adults and 60% of children were registered with a NHS dentist in 2003. The figures come just days after hundreds of people in Scarborough queued for hours to join a new NHS dentist. The Department of Health has rejected opposition claims that NHS dentistry is in crisis with Ministers saying they're spending millions improving services. The figures were published in response to questions tabled by the Liberal Democrats in parliament.

They show that the proportion of people who are registered with a NHS dentist has hardly changed since 1999. They also reveal huge variations across the country. For instance, just 36% of adults in south west London were registered with a NHS dentist in 2003. This compares to 65% of adults in north and east Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire. Similarly, just 37% of children in Kent and Medway are registered with a NHS dentist compared to 67% in Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow said the figures were low because NHS dentists are refusing to take on new patients.

He said just 10,700 of the 16,649 dentists in England were accepting new children as patients while just 8,830 were offering free treatment to adults. "With so few dentists accepting NHS patients it is little wonder that the levels of people registering with the NHS are so low. As NHS dental cover declines so too is dental health. The government must get to grips with the crisis in dental health." There is anecdotal evidence that many people have difficulty finding a NHS dentist. In recent months, the arrival of new NHS dentists in some towns and cities has been followed by huge queues of people trying to register before they get too full.

Health officials in Scarborough say they will now appoint a second NHS dentist after the recent queues. John Renshaw, a dentist in Scarborough and chairman of the British Dental Association, urged ministers to take action. "We get 3,000 inquiries a year at our surgery alone from people wanting to register as new NHS patients and if you multiply that you can see just how big the problem is," he said. "Is the government making any attempt to stop the problem getting worse? "What they are doing here is putting a sticking plaster over the haemorrhage and everything's spilling out from under the plaster."

Health Minister Rosie Winterton said the government was committed to improving the service. "We are increasing the number of graduates coming through dental schools and in the longer term we are changing the way dentists are paid, which will ensure that they are encouraged to stay with the NHS," she said. Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley accused the government of breaking promises. "Tony Blair pledged in his 1999 party conference speech that everyone would be able to see an NHS dentist within two years. This promise was repeated in the government's NHS Plan in July 2000. The people queuing to register for the NHS dentist in Scarborough know only too well that this is yet another promise that the Government has made but failed to deliver."

Dentists are threatening to boycott the NHS and go private in a row with the Government over new funding changes. Currently 26 of southern Derbyshire's 78 dental practices are taking new adult NHS patients, but those who offer NHS care plan to boycott the system, which would force patients to go "private" and pay higher fees. The new system will cut the number of different charges from more than 400 to three - £15 for simple treatment, £41 for intermediate treatment, such as fillings, and £183 for complex work. So the current maximum charge, £384, will be reduced, but the standard £6 check-up fee will more than double.

The Government says the new system will be "more responsive to local need" because PCTs will be able to fund communities with the fewest NHS places. It would also discourage dentists from unnecessary treatment but dentists fear they will be left to meet any budget shortfalls, and they will not always be able to do the most expensive treatments. Anushka Bakshi, practice manager at Cavendish Dental Practice, in Derby Lane, Derby, said, "Dentists will in future extract the tooth rather than try to save it because it is cheaper and less time-consuming, which will mean dental health will suffer." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

A Tory plan to beat waiting lists would see patients paying £10 a month for NHS dental treatment allowing families to spread the cost instead of being hit with a hefty bill each time. Tories hope the plan will ease the shortage of NHS dentists by encouraging them to take on more patients.