Thank you Mr Mayor

Thank you Mr Mayor.
Firstly I must declare that as a dentist working outside Hertsmere,
I have a personal interest in this motion

But more importantly I have a personal interest in the Health and availability of care to the residents of our Borough , Hertsmere.
Many of you , I am sure , will remember the words of Tony Blair at Labour’s party conference in 1999.

Tony Blair PLEDGED that everyone would have access to an NHS Dentist within 2 years  - that is by the year 2001 – 5 years ago.

Moreover, 8 months later in the July 2000 NHS plan the Government emphasised that it was “firmly committed to making High Quality NHS dentistry available to all who want it by September 2001.

However, the proportion of the population registered with an NHS dentist has fallen by more than 2 million since 1997.

There were 47,178 people registered with an NHS dentist  in Hertsmere in 1997 – by 2005 this figure had fallen to 40,577 a drop of 6,601 – a 13.99% reduction in people registered. What’s happened to Tony Blairs promise ?

By 2005 under 43% of our residents were registered with an NHS dentist.

These figures and problems are now getting worse.
In april 2006 our Labour Government forced on to the dental profession
a very unpopular new contract.

Dentists are now working to a fixed target driven budget with no time or funding to provide essential Preventative work or advice.

More local dentists have been forced to leave the NHS for the private sector, increasing the shortage and lack of availability within the NHS.

The Government introduced this April a new pricing structure which the British Dental Association condemned as a“ revenue raising exercise
contrary to the founding principles of the NHS “
The government wants income from patient’s dental charges to increase by a massive 35 per cent – some National Health Service
So, New pricing structures brought in with this New Contract
have left many if not most of our residents facing higher NHS dental charges

That is if they can find a LOCAL dentist willing to provide treatment under the NHS



In Hertsmere since the introduction of the new contract this April only 7 out of the 21 dental practices that I contacted yesterday , that is only 1 in 3 were still taking on new NHS patients
And some have a waiting list of weeks.

The numbers go like this

No dentists taking on New NHS patients in Elstree
One in Bushey
None in Radlett
2 in Potters Bar
and 4 in Borehamwood.

Children , the elderly and infirm , will have to travel further within our borough of Hertsmere to access what they and I am sure we all consider an essential right :
That of NHS funded dentistry.

Till April 2009 the limited money given to the PCT for local NHS dentistry is ring fenced ie it can only be spent on front line dentistry.

After April 2009 the money will be added to the general PCT budget.
With our local PCT’s deficit , it seems to me highly unlikely that they would choose to fund the local dentists , when faced with the choice of
essential medical services or spending the money on Dentistry.


The worry is that as time goes on , as there will be NO increase in funding from Central Government to the Primary Care Trust, that these few practices will soon get full to capacity and then where will our residents turn?


Is this first world health? More like third world health in our First world country.

The residents of Hertsmere have a right to be able to access NHS dental services along with other first class medical services.

Everyone in Hertsmere should be able to register with a local NHS dentist yet,
with only 1 in 3 of our practices taking on nhs patients, the government has clearly failed in its pledge to make NHS dentistry accessible to all.


This shocking situation in Hertsmere is being repeated , and is worse,  in many areas across the Country.

Growing numbers of our local residents will and are having to travel miles to see an NHS dentist or forced to go Private to receive the treatment they need.

We must have a dental system that promotes good oral health and preventative work and which encourages dentists to stay working for the NHS.

This motion therefore calls on the Government to

• Stand by its pledge that all our residents

should have access to an NHS dentist

• Urgently review dentistry services in Hertsmere

Where it is and will become increasingly difficult
To find dental practices that are accepting
New NHS patients

• Account for the impact that the new dentists’

Contracts are having on NHS dentistry