Buckland dental practice invites city MP to join staff on the dentistry frontline as Portsmouth’s healthcare crisis continues

Following the publication of the Association of Dental Groups’ six-point plan to improve services for patients, a city MP joined healthcare workers on the frontline of a dental practice to hear firsthand about the issues gripping NHS dentistry.

Stephen Morgan, the Labour MP for Portsmouth South, met with the practice time at Smile Dental Care in Buckland.

Business managers, a dentist, and other staff spoke to him about their concerns and ideas.

Key issues raised included the need for more flexible commissioning of NHS dental services and challenging regulations around foreign entry into the British dental workforce.

Last month, Smile Dental Care practice had 198 patients fail to turn up for their appointments, resulting in 68.75 hours of surgery time being wasted, which could have been used for other patients.

The practice has also reported abuse of staff as a growing concern.

The MP has long campaigned to improve the city’s dental crisis and has previously argued that Portsmouth is ‘not just a dental desert’ but a ‘new healthcare hell’, pointing out that the ADG found the area has the seventh lowest number of NHS dentists per 100,000 in the country.

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Mr Morgan said: ‘It’s been useful to spend time on the frontline and see first-hand the current challenges a dental practice in our city is facing and to listen to concerns and ideas about what can be done to resolve them.

‘Our city has become a dental desert and it is clear from seeing the problems for myself and speaking to those who deal with them on a daily basis that we must recruit and retain the workforce and reform the contracts that determine the services in our community to get British dentistry back on track.

‘I will be taking what I’ve learnt from the time at the dental practice back to Parliament to ensure Portsmouth patients finally get access to the NHS dental services they need and deserve.’

The ADG’s plan includes increasing the number of training places in the UK, continuing recognition of EU trained dentists, and recognising overseas qualifications.