Dear Angela
I’m saddened to read in the Wirral Globe that the NHS GP Patient Survey found 26% of respondents in Cheshire and Merseyside have tried unsuccessfully in the last two years to book an appointment with an NHS dentist.
I know that you get a lot of correspondence on this issue and are fully aware of the scale of the crisis.
The Labour Party have also recognised that a crisis exists in NHS dentistry and have made a number of manifesto pledges, eg “Labour will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most.”
However there was no mention of dentistry in the King’s Speech.
This is nothing less than a health emergency. What assurances can you give me that the Labour Government will take emergency action, not in 12 months time but between now and Christmas, to improve access to dental services ?
Kind regards
[Name and address supplied]
Optimism of the Will 