Foord: Cancer patients need NHS dental fast-track

Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord has called on the Government to ensure that cancer patients have the ability to access NHS dental care in their local area.

Speaking in a debate in Parliament last week, Richard Foord, the MP for Tiverton & Honiton, highlighted the huge challenges facing rural dentists – with the Government recently introducing one-off payments to entice dentists to move to more isolated areas like Devon.

During the debate, Mr Foord highlighted the case of Robin Whatling from Tiverton. Mr Whatling is battling advanced cancer yet saw his NHS dental appointment cancelled just days before it was due because the practice had opted to no longer treat NHS patients.

After weeks of being unable to get an appointment, the pain became too much and Robin ended up performing ‘DIY Dentistry’ on himself – removing one of his teeth himself at home. He has still been unable to get an appointment.

The British Dental Association has warned that DIY Dentistry is on the rise, warning that 8-in-10 dentists are seeing incidents of this painful and potentially dangerous practice and calling on the Government to take real action to fix the crumbling state of NHS dental services.

Mr Foord has echoed these calls and urged Ministers to set out a scheme to help fast-track cancer patients for NHS dental work and reverse the £1billion real terms cut to the NHS dental budget that has taken place under this Conservative Government.

Richard Foord MP said:

“NHS dental services have been decaying before our very eyes. They are now all but a distant memory for our rural communities, yet Ministers seem to be living in a fantasy-land and believe everything is more or less fine.

“Cancer patients like Robin are some of the most stoical people in our society. He’s battling a life-threatening condition but, despite working hard and paying into the system for years, he cannot even get an emergency dental appointment when he needs one.

“This is shameful and a shocking indictment of this Conservative government’s record. They continue to do next to nothing while rural areas like ours quickly become dental deserts – with people having to travel huge distances of pay huge sums for private dental work.

“More patch-up jobs and temporary fillings are not going to cut it. The Government needs to reform the NHS dental contract to boost the number of appointments and set up a fast-track access scheme, so those living with advanced cancer can access NHS dentals services.”