Have you tried signing up for an NHS dentist? If you managed it, tell the rest of us how. Figures from the British Dental Association (BDA) and the BBC lay bare the bleeding abscess at the heart of UK dental care. The shortage of dentists has been blamed on an NHS contract which the BDA says provides funds for only half the cost of treatment for each patient.
Across England, 91 per cent of NHS practices are not accepting new adult patients, with many languishing on waiting lists for longer than a year. The crisis has seen a rise in people forced to see private dentists. Some who cannot afford to do so have even attempted so-called ‘DIY dentistry’.
And as everyone who has allowed a decaying tooth to fester knows, the situation is deteriorating. The BDA says that NHS dentistry “is at a tipping point”, warning that more dentists are “leaving with every day that passes”. Indeed, since March 2020, some 3,000 have moved away from NHS work entirely, according to their figures. Meanwhile, three-quarters of dentists are likely to reduce, or further reduce, their NHS commitments over the next 12 months.
The issues facing dentistry are neither unique nor surprising. This morning, the Health Secretary said the wider NHS faces a “real sprint” to prepare for the coming months, where the now annual ‘winter crisis’ is expected to be worse than ever due to the toxic combination of flu, Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis.
From waiting hours for an ambulance to months for a filling, our health service — plagued by staff and funding shortages — is distinctly unwell.
Biden’s climate comeback
Since its inception, life-saving legislation has come to ‘die in the Senate’. Thanks to its filibuster, which requires most Bills to achieve the support of 60 of its 100 members, radical change is frequently stymied in what is sometimes called the world’s greatest deliberative body.
Not so yesterday. By the narrowest of margins, involving a tie-breaking vote by vice president Kamala Harris and in the face of total Republican opposition, the Democrats passed a sweeping, £580 billion Bill its authors say will cut US carbon emissions 40 per cent by 2030. The Bill is likely to achieve support from the House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Joe Biden shortly.
With difficult mid-term elections in November, this was perhaps the final opportunity not only for Biden to secure a major political victory, but for the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide to pivot to the rapid and large-scale decarbonisation necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Actions speak louder than words, particularly when it comes to global warming. In a world riven by conflict and threatened by ecological breakdown, this sort of US leadership is needed more than ever.
Thank you, Birmingham
Thank you, Birmingham. The 22nd instalment of the Commonwealth Games, which ends this evening, has had it all. Only yesterday, England’s women won hockey gold for the first time in the event’s history with a shock 2-1 victory over favourite Australia.
The event has once again brought this Commonwealth of Nations together, and we are already looking forward to Victoria 2026.
