Posted: Thu 26th Sep 2024

Welsh Politicians Slam Secretary of State for Praising Dental Healthcare in Wales

North Wales news and information

Anglesey and Gwynedd politicians have blasted the Secretary of State for Wales after she praised dental healthcare in Wales as a blueprint to follow.
Jo Stevens, the MP for Cardiff East, had claimed in a speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that the UK Government had a cross-border healthcare plan to cut waiting lists in Wales pledging that the “UK Government will take inspiration from Wales on dentistry”.
Her words came amid a “dental crisis” impacting North Wales with politicians reporting being “inundated” with “harrowing” tales of families unable to see an NHS dentist or afford private care.
Siân Gwenllian, the MS for Arfon, slammed the Welsh Secretary’s comments as “disingenuous” saying they “ignored a multitude of failures” in Wales’ dentistry provision.
Anglesey MS Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Jo Stevens need only see the people waiting in vain for NHS dental care to see the depths of the problems in dentistry in Wales.”
On Friday, Mrs Gwenllian had organised a conference in Bangor making the case for a school of dentistry in the city and published a report on the subject.
She made the call for a dental school amid what she described as “a growing dental crisis”, saying many of her constituents were unable to access services which not only affected them but also put “added pressures” on A&E services.
She said: “I was astonished to hear praise for dental health care in Wales when the day to day reality for families in Arfon is quite different.
“Since 2016, myself and other politicians have been inundated, we receive bag-loads of mail, containing many stories, many harrowing stories, of families unable to access a dentist and unable to afford private care.
“Many end up with major problems down the line, I particularly worry about children not accessing dental care – it’s building problems for the future.
“There is a major problem in Arfon.
“Just last week, Kelly O’Donnell from Bethel spoke about how her family have been unable to see an NHS dentist for more than four years.
“I have published a report that laid bare the stark reality of the dental crisis in Wales, and called for a School of Dentistry based in Bangor in my constituency to get to grips with shortages.
“The report showed that only 36.6% of the population in the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board area had received NHS dental treatment in the past two years.
“Less than half of the child population had been seen to by an NHS dentist.
“The Welsh Secretary’s comments were disingenuous and ignored a multitude of failures in Wales’ dentistry provision.
“I hope the Secretary of State for Wales will join me in calling for her Labour colleagues in Cardiff to set up a school training dentists at Bangor University, as soon as possible.
“We have to start recruiting and training more dentists to respond to the demand, especially in the north, we have now a medical school opening its door this term, a dental school is the next natural step.
“I want to see Bangor grow as a centre for excellence for training health professionals.”
She will be asking a question in the Senedd today [Wednesday] asking for the Welsh Government to commit to a dental school.
She said: “They have said we need a second one, there is only one in Cardiff, and not many Welsh students go there.
“We are going to have an online petition – the next step is to get the public involved.
“As with the school of medicine, there was a lot of resistance at first, and a dental school won’t happen over night.
“But the case was so overwhelmingly strong for a school of medicine, it went ahead, it’s exactly the same momentum behind the dental school. The case is so strong.”
Anglesey MS Rhun ap Iorwerth also slammed the Welsh Secretary’s comments, and spoke about the news that another surgery – Valley Dental on Anglesey – announced it was stopping NHS services from December.
He said: “The termination of a further NHS dental contract on Ynys Môn is another blow for an island that has seen a sharp decline in the availability and accessibility of NHS dental services in recent years.
“The blame lies squarely at the door of the Labour Welsh Government, who failed over their 25 years in power to get to grips with the issues facing the dental sector in Wales.
“Instead, they’ve allowed services to diminish over time, meaning more patients are suffering.
“Yesterday, the Welsh Secretary of State said that the UK government will use Wales as a blueprint when it comes to dental services.
“Jo Stevens need only see the people waiting in vain for NHS dental care to see the depths of the problems in dentistry in Wales.”
When approached for comment, a Welsh Government spokesperson pointed to a Plenary answer from First Minister Eluned Morgan.
During First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday, Mr ap Iorwerth said: “They’ll be sharing good practice, we’re told, and that’s certainly a good thing.
“There’s no detail, though.
“And isn’t there a huge irony that dentistry is the thing identified as a major success in Wales?
“It’s an irony that won’t be lost on all those unable to register with an NHS dentist.”
The First Minister said: “It is, I think, important also to recognise that we don’t have a monopoly in terms of good ideas.
“But when it comes to dentistry, you’re quite right, we’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve come a very long way, and the fact that we have managed to introduce nearly 400,000 new patient appointments to the NHS is something that, I think, should be celebrated.
“If you go to England, you have absolute dental deserts.
“We encourage people to go and train in rural areas.
“We can’t force dentists to work for the NHS, but the fact that that new contract has delivered that many in two years is, I think, a significant step forward, and it’s much better than anything the Tories managed to do in England under the previous Prime Minister.”

By Dale Spridgeon – Local Democracy Reporter



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