MS hits out at Welsh Secretary over NHS dentistry comments

Emily Price

An MS who has been "inundated" by constituents trying to access NHS dental care has hit out at the Welsh Secretary for claiming Wales is an example of how dental services should be run.

Yesterday Jo Stevens announced that the UK and Welsh governments will collaborate on health care for the first time to help drive down waiting lists on both sides of the border and improve patient care.

In her speech to the Labour Party conference on Monday (September 23), she said: "The UK government will take inspiration from NHS Wales on dentistry, where reforms have unlocked almost 400,000 more appointments in the last two years.

"And the Welsh Government will benefit from best practice shared by NHS England as my colleague Wes Streeting oversees the roll out of new, more productive ways of working across England to deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week.

"This the beginning of a new way of working together that will help improve outcomes in both nations and deliver our missions."

But Plaid Cymru's Siân Gwenllian hit out at the Welsh Secretary branding her comments "disingenuous".

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Reality

The MS for Arfon said the UK Government was ignoring a "multitude of failures" in Wales’ dentistry provision with the day-to-day reality of patients seeking NHS dental care "very different".

Ms Gwenllian said: "Since being elected I have been inundated with constituents who are being let down by the Welsh Labour Government, and who are failing to access dental care on the NHS. Just last week, Kelly O'Donnell from Bethel spoke about how her family have been unable to see an NHS dentist for more than four years.

Last week the Plaid MS published a report that called for a School of Dentistry based in her Bangor constituency to get to grips with NHS dentist shortages.

She said: "The report showed that only 36.6% of the population in the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board Area had received NHS dental treatment in the past two years. Less than half of the child population had been seen to by an NHS dentist.

"Put simply, the Welsh Secretary’s comments were disingenuous and ignored a multitude of failures in Wales’ dentistry provision. And that’s without getting in to a debate about the serious overstepping of a devolved issue in Wales.

"I hope the Secretary of State for Wales will join me in calling for her Labour colleagues in Cardiff to set up a School training dentists at Bangor University as soon as possible."

Blow

Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth also criticised the Welsh Secretary's remarks following the termination of a further NHS dental contract on Ynys Môn.

He said: "This is another blow for an island that has seen a sharp decline in the availability and accessibility of NHS dental services in recent years.

"The blame lies squarely at the door of the Labour Welsh Government, who failed over their 25 years in power to get to grips with the issues facing the dental sector in Wales. Instead, they’ve allowed services to diminish over time, meaning more patients are suffering.

"Yesterday, the Welsh Secretary of State said that the UK government will use Wales as a blueprint when it comes to dental services. But Jo Stevens need only see the people waiting in vain for NHS dental care to see the depths of the problems in dentistry in Wales."