Liberal Democrat, Layla Moran, of Oxford West and Abingdon, has gone on record to state that her county is at risk of becoming a ‘desert’ regarding dental care.

The MP stated that the system was in a dire state. She them made reference to a Freedom of Information request, which revealed that there has been a 38% increase in people resorting to A&E for dental care within the Oxford University Hospitals trust when compared to the year prior.

When approached by constituents asking what was being done in her local area, Ms. Moran told the House of Commons last week:

“An Oxford resident wrote to me saying that when his NHS practice closed, he rang a dozen others across the county.

“Each one said they were offering NHS services but, in fact, they were not – they were only offering private care. In this cost of living crisis, people simply cannot afford that.”

Health Minister, Dame Andrea Leadsom’s response to this statement was that she was “incredibly sympathetic” to such concerns, and that the situation was improving, with a big set of reforms on the way.

A DoH spokesperson said:

“We are making progress to boost NHS dental services, with 23% more courses of treatment delivered last year compared to the previous year and 1.7 million more adults and 800,000 more children receiving NHS dental care.”

In addition, the DoH spokesperson stated that more than 3bn funding was made available annually, with plans in place to increase training places for dental workers by 40%.

My two penneth

Sadly, the statistics revealed in this latest news piece only reinforce fear shared in previous articles that have touched on topics such as the private dental professional exodus. Promises can be made, but at the end of the day these words need to be translated into positive, tangible outcomes.

They can pour all the money in the world to NHS dental care at this point, but until the average person on the street is able to readily access the care it allegedly funds, people will rightfully continue to cry out for help.