The shocking decay of NHS dentistry under the Conservative Government (Stockport Express - January 2024)

The Prime Minister visited Stockport earlier this month. It’s no wonder that he wanted to pay us a visit - Stockport is a brilliant town. Yet like many places around the country, it is being held back by 14 years of Conservative failure.

Communities cannot thrive without access to essential services such as high-quality healthcare, housing and public transport. In all these areas, the Conservative Government is failing Stockport.

There are currently thousands of people in Stockport languishing on NHS waiting lists, unable to access the healthcare they need, on account of the Conservatives’ long-term neglect of our NHS. NHS dentistry is in a state of acute crisis; a shocking 12 million people were unable to get an appointment with an NHS dentist last year – more than one in four adults in England.

This situation is an urgent public health crisis and must be treated as such by the Government. Tooth decay forced 365 patients to A&E in Stockport in 2022/2023 and is currently the most common reason for children aged six-10 to be admitted to hospital.

With rising numbers of people being unable to see a dentist, the first symptoms of oral cancer are increasingly not being diagnosed quickly enough. The number of people dying from the disease rose by 46% between 2011 and 2021.

I have raised these issues in the House of Commons on numerous occasions, most recently in a debate on January 9 about the state of NHS dentistry and Labour’s plan to rescue it. I highlighted the experiences of both patients and dentists in Stockport, drawing on responses I received to a survey I sent to every dental practice with NHS patients in Stockport constituency. The answers I received reported that years of chronic underfunding of NHS dentistry by the Government have produced the crisis that we are seeing today.

I am therefore glad to have voted for last week’s motion in the House of Commons to rescue NHS dentistry. The motion tabled by the Labour Party proposed 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, incentives to recruit dentists to the areas most in need, supervised toothbrushing in schools for three- to five-year-olds, and reform of the NHS dental contract so that everyone who needs a dentist can get one. A Labour government would fund this by abolishing the non-dom tax status, a tax break enabling wealthy people who live and work in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.

We need a General Election now – so that the people of Stockport can replace this out-of-touch Conservative Government with a Labour government that will achieve the positive change our communities need to thrive. As ever, if you live or work in Stockport constituency, please do not hesitate to contact me with queries on navendu.mishra.mp@parliament.uk or 0161 480 0833.