Map reveals NHS dentistry 'crisis' as hardly any North East dentists take on new patients

Hardly any NHS dentists in the North East are currently taking on new patients, as figures reveal the scale of the "crisis".

Exclusive analysis of the 314 practices in the North East on the NHS’s “Find a dentist” website has revealed 266, or 85%, are not currently accepting adults aged 18 or over. The situation is slightly less bad in Newcastle, where 79% of practices are not accepting new adult NHS patients.

But in reality, many of those that say they are accepting new adult patients “when availability allows” may still have years-long waiting lists. Those who cannot get NHS appointments are largely reliant on expensive private care, with rural and coastal areas some of the worst affected.

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It’s not just adults who are affected either - 69% of NHS dentists in the North East are not accepting children aged 17 or under. Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor don’t have a single practice accepting new child patients. This isn’t just a problem in the North East- nationally, nearly 4,800 of the more than 6,500 dentists on the site, or 73%, are not currently accepting adults aged 18 or over.

A joint Mirror investigation with the British Dental Association then contacted a sample of 100 practices that were listed as accepting new adult patients “when availability allows”. It revealed 84 of these are actually not currently accepting new NHS patients. One stated its waiting list was “at least 10 years”.

Taken together this suggests 96% of practices are not taking new adult NHS patients. British Dental Association (BDA) Chair Eddie Crouch said: "The information on the NHS website was redesigned to give cover to the last Government. But until the new Government keep their promises, millions will face long hours on the phone, struggling to access care."

Mr Crouch added: “Every week I speak to MPs reporting how deep the crisis in NHS dentistry goes. There are votes to be won and lost here, and constituents are looking for action. If this ends up as another line on a pledge card at the next General Election there simply won’t be a service left to save.”

The Health Select Committee has labelled the NHS dental payment contract “not fit for purpose”. It pays dentists the same amount for three fillings as 20, and claws back vital funds from dentistry when practices miss targets. Along with huge real-terms cuts to the dentistry budget the payment contract has led to many dentists going private.

The Tories’ unveiled a "recovery plan" before the General Election before admitting it would not reform the contract or come with any additional funding. The BDA claimed it was designed to kick the issue of dentistry into the long grass.

Just weeks later it published posters on social media promoting the plan, claiming nearly 500 more practices across England had started accepting new adult patients as of April 8. However this was because on April 2 the definition of access on the NHS Find a Dentist website was changed from just a yes/no answer, with the caveat added asking whether they were accepting new NHS patients “when availability allows”.

See which dentists are accepting NHS patients in your area using our interactive map: