Merseyside's 'dentistry deserts' where new patients aren't being accepted

Most dentists in Merseyside are not taking on new NHS patients - you can see if your area is a “dentistry desert” using our interactive map. Exclusive analysis of the 167 practices in Merseyside on the NHS’s “find a dentist” website has revealed 136, or 81%, are not currently accepting adults aged 18 or over. In two constituencies - Liverpool West Derby and Wirral West - not a single NHS dentist is accepting new adult patients.

And 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.

You can see which dentists are accepting NHS patients in your area using our interactive map:

It’s not just adults who are affected - 67% of NHS dentists in Merseyside are not accepting children aged 17 or under, and again Liverpool West Derby doesn’t have a single practice accepting new child patients.

This isn’t just a problem in Merseyside - 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 ten years”.

Taken together this suggests 96% of practices are not taking new adult NHS patients. 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 so-called "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”.