Ayrshire politicians have lined up to slam the Scottish Government’s attempts to remobilise NHS dentistry.
And they have been joined by the British Dental Association Scotland who claimed ministers have ‘fallen asleep at the wheel’ on the issue.
Concerns are growing over the increasing wait for patients before they receive an NHS dental appointment – and the number of dentists who are planning to reduce their level of NHS work.
The British Dental Association previously warned that 80 per cent of dentists estimate they’ll reduce their level of NHS work.
Now South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth has urged the SNP-led Scottish Government to come up with a better recovery plan.
He said: “Covid restrictions understandably led to a big drop in the numbers of people seen by an NHS dentist but as restrictions ease, we’re still seeing huge waiting times for people trying to get an appointment with an NHS dentist.
“I’m receiving an increasing number of complaints from constituents that they cannot receive a certain treatment on the NHS without an unbearable wait, but they are being told that they can get the same treatment with no wait— often from the same dentist— if they go private.
“I have very serious concerns about what this means for the future of our dental service. I’ll continue to press the Scottish Government on this very important issue.”
In a debate in Holyrood on Wednesday, Scottish Government MSPs voted against a motion on support for NHS dentistry, tabled by the Scottish Conservatives and backed by both Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrats.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish dental practice committee said: “NHS dentistry in Scotland is facing crisis, but sadly ministers seem asleep at the wheel.”
South Scotland Tory MSP Brian Whittle said: “More and more people are seeking private dentists because they can’t get access to NHS dentists.
“NHS dentists are struggling to keep up with far longer waiting lists than there have ever been and this is not good for swift care, free at the point of care. Inevitably, this is driving a health inequality, because there are those who just can’t contemplate paying for their dentist.
“The Scottish Government’s heads are buried so far in the sands all we can see is the soles of their feet.”
Labour South Scotland MSP Carol Mochan said there was a serious crisis going on in dentistry and blamed the government’s “indecision” and “ineffectiveness”.
She continued: “Many parents have expressed to me the ongoing worry to access a local NHS dentist for their children. This is unacceptable.
“Covid is a serious contributing factor, but we can’t always frame everything in that context.
“Before Covid there were pressures on NHS dentistry, but the truth is if something is not done the same problems will be around a lot longer.”
The minister for public health, women’s health and sport, Maree Todd, said: “The dental sector has been disproportionately impacted by the nature of the pandemic.
“In order to protect patients and staff, dental practices are required to operate with specific infection prevention and control measures, including a fallow time between patients and the use of full personal protective equipment.
“During the initial lockdown in March 2020, dental practices were closed to face-to-face patient care, and NHS board centres focused largely on emergency and urgent dental care.
“Since that initial phase of lockdown, dental practices have slowly remobilised, offering increasing levels of care to their patients.
“Although registration levels remain comparable with those before the pandemic, the proportion of those patients who have attended a dentist in the past two years has fallen from around 70 per cent to 53 per cent. That is entirely due to the impact of the pandemic.
“That is why the Scottish Government has supported the NHS dental sector throughout the pandemic with an additional £50 million of financial support payments.
“We have also provided specific funding to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on dental activity. That includes £7.5m of funding for new dental drills, £5m for ventilation improvements and £35m for NHS personal protective equipment to date.
“The Scottish Government is determined to ensure that NHS dental services emerge well placed to care for the oral health of the whole population.”
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