£1 million underspend in NHS dentistry revealed as Helen calls for rescue plan

Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has called for a dental rescue plan as new figures revealed more than £1 million of dental funding went unspent in Shropshire despite patients across the county being unable to access NHS treatment.

New data shows that 99.3% of new patients in the Midlands have been unsuccessful in trying to access NHS treatment.

The Office for National Statistics’ report Experiences of NHS healthcare services in England shows 99.3% of those in the region who do not have a dentist and tried to access NHS dental care were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile data obtained by the British Dental Association shows that a total of £1,076,580 of funding went unspent by NHS dental practices in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin in 2022/23 – enough money to fund tens of thousands of courses of treatment.

Practices in the ICB had an average of £13,291 clawed back per practice in the financial year, the latest period for which data is available. This is not because of a lack of demand but largely due to dental practices’ inability to recruit, a long-running problem in Shropshire where even large ‘golden handshake’ offers have failed to attract dentists.

Of those in the Midlands who failed to secure care, 7% were recorded as going private, 0.6% reported going to A&E, and 5.6% reported going to their GP despite medics not being trained or equipped to provide dental treatment. 82.7% did nothing, which the BDA has warned will only lead to greater burdens and the health service if early signs of disease are left unchecked. Tooth decay is the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children.

Of those in the Midlands who tried to access NHS dentistry, but did not have a dentist, 30% reported having an urgent need for NHS care, with more than 1 in 10 (10.9%) stating they were in pain.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan is calling for a dental rescue plan that will provide enough funding to reform the NHS dental contract and ensure that far more NHS appointments are available for patients in North Shropshire and across the country.

You can sign Helen Morgan’s Dental Petition here.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire and Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, said, “Tackling the crisis in dental care must be a priority for this Labour government.

“We have reached a ridiculous situation where NHS funding is going unspent at the same time that patients are resorting to pulling out their own teeth. This is because there are simply not enough dentists and not enough NHS appointments.

“The NHS dentist contract must be reformed and a rescue plan put in place to give patients access to the affordable treatment they need.”