NHS dentistry on Isle of Wight reaches ‘critical’ state

NHS dental services on the Isle of Wight have reached a ‘critical’ point, with another NHS dental practice set to close.

This will mark the sixth practice providing NHS treatment to close on the island in the last eighteen months.

Having spent the past two years attempting to recruit a new NHS dentist, the practice revealed it is set to close due to ongoing ‘severe’ staff shortages.

As a result, Joanne Smith from Healthwatch Isle of Wight has stated that the situation is now ‘critical,’ with the closure expected to have a ‘huge impact’ on the community – particularly children.

She added: ‘By the time people see a dentist, their oral health is so poor, they need more and more work done in the chair.’

This follows reports that access to NHS dentistry on the Isle of Wight is below the national average, with just 40% of children and 23% of adults seeing an NHS dentist between April 2023 and 2024.

Calls for urgent intervention

The practice closure has pushed a patient on the island to launch a petition requesting that the closure be delayed until another company is found to take over the delivery of NHS dental services in the area. The petition has since gathered more than 1,800 signatures

The patient, Ieuan Jehu, revealed that residents have had to travel to the mainland for dental treatment.

He added: ‘We already know people are pulling out their own teeth, it’s sad so many people can’t access the services they are entitled to.

‘One couple told me they were organising trips to Spain just so they could see a reasonably priced dentist.’

In addition, Isle of Wight West MP Richard Quigley has criticised the Labour Party’s plan to incentivise dentists to provide NHS services, calling it ‘too slow’.

He also stated the island needs a rescue plan, and has written to health minister Stephen Kinnock, requesting ‘urgent’ intervention.

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