A report out today reveals that more than seven million patients have been unable to see an NHS dentist for almost two years.
Most of those denied access have paid for private care instead, says Citizens Advice, but almost three million have gone without treatment altogether.
The figure includes thousands of children and is much higher than Government estimates.
"Improving access to NHS dentistry is now a national priority for the health service,” is the response from Health Minister Ann Keen – but what has the Labour Government been doing for the last 11 years?
Speaking at his party’s annual Conference in Bournemouth in September 1999, then Prime Minister Tony Blair promised that everyone in the country would have easy access to an NHS dentist within two years.
Today’s report proves that this pledge was, like so many before and since, just another example of Labour spin.
And in the meantime, millions of patients – mostly from the poorest households in the country – have been left to suffer pain and indignity.
An Opposition politician this morning described the ongoing crisis in NHS dentistry as “this Government's hidden legacy.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Most of those denied access have paid for private care instead, says Citizens Advice, but almost three million have gone without treatment altogether.
The figure includes thousands of children and is much higher than Government estimates.
"Improving access to NHS dentistry is now a national priority for the health service,” is the response from Health Minister Ann Keen – but what has the Labour Government been doing for the last 11 years?
Speaking at his party’s annual Conference in Bournemouth in September 1999, then Prime Minister Tony Blair promised that everyone in the country would have easy access to an NHS dentist within two years.
Today’s report proves that this pledge was, like so many before and since, just another example of Labour spin.
And in the meantime, millions of patients – mostly from the poorest households in the country – have been left to suffer pain and indignity.
An Opposition politician this morning described the ongoing crisis in NHS dentistry as “this Government's hidden legacy.”
I couldn’t agree more.
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