No new dental places in Wakefield, Horbury and Ossett while fees increase by 8.5%

Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood said there was ‘chronic shortage of NHS dentist places’ in the district as charges for NHS dentistry.

And for those fortunate enough to be registered the cost of NHS denistry charges are increasing by 8.5 per cent.

It follows confirmation that the Bupa dental surgery in Pontefract has confirmed it will close down because it is unable to recruit NHS dentists.

READ MORE: Bupa dental surgery in Pontefract confirms it will close because it ‘can’t recruit NHS dentists’

In January, during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Mr Lightwood highlighted the issues his constituents have experienced when trying to access an NHS dentist.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the rising costs and lack of places would “do nothing to help struggling practices or the millions of patients unable to secure an appointment”.

Polling by YouGov for the BDA – identifying how costs impact patients’ willingness to seek dental treatment – found that 26 per cent of people surveyed had gone without required NHS dental treatment and 19 per cent had delayed seeking the treatment they needed due to the cost.

The new charges have been introduced at a time where foodbank handouts in Yorkshire have risen by more than 25 per cent, according to data released by the Trussell Trust.

Mr Lightwood said: “The emergency we face in NHS dentistry in Wakefield is down to the mismanagement by successive Tory governments over the past 13 years, which is now being

exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The failure of this government to properly address the chronic shortage of NHS dental places in Wakefield, alongside the cost-of-living crisis, is hitting the most vulnerable in Wakefield the hardest. Wakefield needs action.”

Government health minister Neil O'Brien has acknowledged that NHS dentistry needs a complete overhaul.

Appearing before a committee of MPs he said: "We want to grow the overall level of activity that NHS dentistry is delivering, particularly to do that by making NHS work more attractive in lots of different ways, by fundamentally overhauling the contract that has been there since 2006, which is now pretty badly showing its age.”