South Cotswolds MP calls on Health Secretary to fix NHS dental staffing crisis
Dr Roz Savage, Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, has today called for more action from the Government to save NHS dentistry, in a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
The letter detailed the plight faced by her constituents when trying to access dental care, including chronic pain, thousands of pounds lost, and even people performing their own ‘DIY dentistry’. Roz called for a detailed plan to be published, outlining the Government’s strategy to address the staffing crisis in NHS dental care. She requested that the plan include reform of the NHS dental contract to encourage dentists to return to NHS practice, and embedding long-term workforce planning for health and social care in legislation.
The South Cotswolds MP also urged the Secretary of State to consider structural barriers to the registration of overseas-qualified dentists, an issue she has raised before in an Early Day Motion which called attention to the fact that there are currently around 5,000 overseas-qualified dentists waiting to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) in order to practice dentistry in the UK.
It comes as data reveals that 8,500 dentists left the profession in the last four years, with a further 4,000 currently approaching retirement age. In a double whammy, over 300 NHS contracts have recently been handed back as practices struggle to balance the books with NHS patients.
In Gloucestershire, 22 dentists left the profession in 2024 and a further 37 were over the retirement age of 55 in 2023/24, equal to 24% of all dentists in the area.
The knock-on effects of this are being felt around the country. Over 16,000 people went to A&E with tooth decay in 2024, and it is the leading cause of hospitalisation for 5-9 year olds.
Dentist practices are also set to be hit by the Labour government’s rise in employer’s national insurance, with the Government admitting no impact assessment was carried out before the changes were forced through.
Roz Savage MP and the Liberal Democrats have proposed a £750m rescue package to save NHS dentistry. This would aim to bring dentists back from the private sector by fixing dental contracts and using flexible commissioning to meet patients’ needs, as well as introducing an emergency scheme to guarantee access to free NHS dental check-ups for those already eligible.
Roz Savage, Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, commented:
“It’s appalling that our NHS services are being left to crumble like this. Nearly half of UK children have not seen a dentist in the last 12 months. Parents in our area are forced to see their children in terrible pain, even having to go to A&E as the care they need is so sparsely available.
“The previous Conservative government’s neglect was utterly shameful and it proved they cannot be trusted with our NHS ever again, but the current Labour government has moved at a snail's pace to turn this situation around.
“The Government needs to commit to properly funding NHS dentistry services, starting by backing the Liberal Democrats rescue package, so no one ever has to experience this situation again.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The research by the House of Commons Library and data from the Liberal Democrat Written Parliamentary Question can be found here.
PAC comments on the state of NHS dentistry can be found here.
Previous Liberal Democrat research on A&E attendance due to tooth decay can be found here.
Written Parliamentary Question on the national insurance impact assessment can be found here.
NHS dentist case studies about the national insurance rise can be found here.