FINDING AN NHS DENTIST IS LIKE PULLING TEETH FOR STOCKPORT RESIDENTS - STUNELL

3.00.00pm GMT Mon 1st Dec 2008

Local MP Andrew Stunell today criticised the shortage of NHS dental care in the Stockport area, after a survey showed the town's dentists were turning down NHS patients in favour of fee payers.

Research for the Liberal Democrats found that thirty-five of the forty-four dental practices surveyed, refused to accept new NHS patients whilst nineteen of those same practices were happy to take new private patients.

Waiting times were also high, with the average wait for registered NHS patients to see a dentist over three weeks, compared to an average waiting time of only one week for private patients, with some dentists offering appointments as soon as the next day.

The results of Andrew's survey confirms the trends shown in the recent NHS Information Centre research, which showed that 1.2 million people had lost access to an NHS dentist since the introduction of the government's dental contract in 2006.

Commenting, Andrew said:

"This survey shows that NHS dental provision for Stockport Residents is in serious trouble. Many people have been struggling for a long time to find an NHS dentist, and despite the Primary Care Trust's efforts, the situation is worsening.

"These figures make a mockery of ministers' repeated claims that more people than ever are seeing an NHS dentist, and underline the fact that the dental contract they introduced has failed.

"Fewer NHS dentists mean that patients will be forced to go to private practices, which they are struggling to afford - particularly in the current economic climate - or simply won't go to dentists at all.

"It is vital that Stockport residents are not neglected by the crisis in NHS dentistry that has fast become this government's hidden legacy."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1). Lib Dem survey of 44 dental practices in the Stockport area

· 9 out of 44 dentists surveyed are accepting new NHS patients.

· The shortest waiting time for appointments was nine days and the longest was six weeks.

· 19 of those not accepting new NHS patients were happy to take new private patients, including two practices that offered appointments the following day.

2). The period from 1997 to 2005 saw a thirteen per cent drop in the numbers of patients enrolled with a NHS dentist in Stockport

Number of Adults & Children registered with a NHS Dentist in Stockport, by Primary Care Trust as at 30 September.

· 193,050 [Total for 1997]

· 169,030 [Total for 2005]

3). The NHS Information Centre's figures for the first quarter of 2008-09 are available here.