Devon MP calling for NHS dental overhaul

Ian Roome battles local crisis

A Devon MP is calling for national reform in dentistry as more people struggle to find NHS care.

It follows a damning report which concludes that a dental recovery plan introduced by the last government has “comprehensively failed”.

The Public Accounts Committee report revealed that, under current funding and contractual arrangements, at best only two in five people in England could see an NHS dentist in the two years to March 2024.

North Devon Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome, who is vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group for dentistry and oral health, is trying to tackle the issue locally with a steering group made up of local dentists, NHS leaders, local authorities and other key stakeholders.

The group is working on practical solutions to attract and retain dental professionals in North Devon and improve access for patients. In collaboration with Petroc College, it is launching a taster course for people interested in becoming dentists, dental nurses and technicians.

Mr Roome said reforms are desperately needed and more pay is needed because as NHS contracts for dentists are “abysmal”

“A central concern raised by the report is the stark imbalance in earnings between NHS and private dental work,” he said. “While 34,520 dentists were registered in England in April 2023, only 24,193 performed any NHS work in the 2023–24 period.”

Dental work could be more complicated and take many more hours of treatment than anticipated.

“A private dentist will get much more and the way the NHS contract is set up is not rewarding dentists for the work they are doing, A lot of them are doing it out of social responsibility and morals because they want to help but it’s not sustainable.”

He said it is “far too hard” for people to see a dentist and some travel outside the region, resort to DIY dentistry, pulling their own teeth out, or go to A&E with tooth pain.

“We are seeing the real-life consequences of a system under strain in North Devon. Dentistry is broken and needs to be addressed immediately.”

The free course at Petroc College over three evenings explores key roles in denistry, with hands-on experience such as dental model casting and material mixing.

Petroc has worked with Michael Wheeler, an NHS workforce lead, and the Dental Access Centre in Barnstaple to put the course together. It begins on 23 April.

Mr Roome said he hoped it would lead to people taking up apprentices in dentistry or taking courses at the Peninsula Dental School in Plymouth.

The North Devon Dental Steering Group is also securing dental kits for schools to encourage children to get into good teeth-cleaning habits.

The Public Accounts Committee said there is no future for NHS dentistry without action from the government.

A new patient premium (NPP), in which practices received credits for each eligible new patient actually resulted in three per cent fewer new patients since it was introduced a year ago.