3 days ago
Suffolk health boss pledges to create 'oases in the dental deserts' - as campaigners stage demo
A health boss has pledged to create 'oases in the dental deserts' amid plans to spend tens of millions of pounds restoring access to NHS dentistry.
The Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) plans to spend £76m over the next decade to expand dental services in five areas, including Leiston, Brandon, Bury St Edmunds and Tendring.
Its Chief Executive Ed Garratt insists they are 'recovering' the situation, with tens of thousands of urgent appointments now available.
"We are now delivering 60,000 appointments a year in Suffolk and north east Essex, so there's no need for DIY dentistry anymore locally, but we have inconsistent dental coverage across our patch," he said.
"That will represent a £76 million investment over ten years for those communities, assuming the procurement is successful, we have budgeted for it.
"We want to end dental deserts... we want to create oases in the desert.
'I think this is a national problem. We've taken up the mantle in recent years, and we are recovering the situation but there's been an issue with the dental contract and the retention and recruitment of dentists," he added.
Mark Jones started the Toothless in Suffolk campaign four years ago, fed up with watching NHS dentists closing and rural communities left in pain.
'We've heard numerous stories of DIY dentistry where people have got a pair of pliers from the garden shed and extracted their own teeth," he said.
"It's completely unacceptable. The stories are horrific, and they have long-term consequences.
"Access to NHS dentistry continues to be a postcode lottery, out of reach for tens of thousands of men, women and children. They deserve better, much better," he added.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'This government inherited a broken NHS dental sector after years of neglect, but we are getting on with fixing it through our Plan for Change.
'We've already begun the rollout of 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments, and a 'golden hello' scheme is underway to recruit dentists to areas with most need – with hundreds of posts advertised.
'We will also reform the dental contract to make NHS work more appealing to dentists, and we've announced a national supervised toothbrushing programme to prevent tooth decay in young children.'
