The Government has announced that the NHS is rolling out 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments, meaning that hundreds of thousands of people, including those across Penistone and Stocksbridge, will soon be more easily able to access urgent and emergency dental care as the NHS, delivering on Labour’s manifesto commitment.
In South Yorkshire,19,983 urgent care appointments are to be delivered starting from April, including at the 7 NHS dental practices across Penistone and Stocksbridge.
One in five patients in South Yorkshire who tried to see an NHS dentist in the last two years were unable to do so, with access to NHS dentistry increasingly a lottery across the country.
Marie Tidball, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, welcomed the Labour Government’s announcement, describing the new appointments as “vital” and “desperately needed”.
The announcement marks the start of the Government and NHS delivering on the manifesto pledge to provide 700,000 extra urgent and emergency dental appointments to address the crisis in NHS dentistry.
Marie Tidball, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge said:
“Out on the doorstep for the two years leading up to the election, I spoke to so many people who couldn’t access NHS dental appointments.“In recent years it has become near impossible to get an NHS dental appointment, and it is scandalous that the number one reason that five to nine-year-olds are admitted to hospital is because of tooth decay.“So these urgent appointments are desperately needed. Of course it cannot be rebuilt overnight, but this is a vital step forward and I am delighted that this Labour Government is taking such an important step not only repairing NHS dentistry but making it fit for the future.“This is another promise made, promise kept for our Labour Government. With Labour, you and your family will get better treatment faster.”
Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care said:
“We promised we would end the misery faced by hundreds of thousands of people unable to get urgent dental care. Today we’re starting to deliver on that commitment.“NHS dentistry has been left broken after years of neglect with patients left in pain without appointments or queueing around the block just to be seen.“Through our Plan for Change, this government will rebuild dentistry – focusing on prevention, retention of NHS dentists and reforming the NHS contract to make NHS work more appealing to dentists and increase capacity for more patients. This will take time but today marks an important step towards getting NHS dentistry back on its feet.”
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