Island MP Bob Seely has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay seeking government support to help improve dental access on the Island.
Mr Seely is calling for action to address what he says is an acute shortfall in NHS dental provision on the Island caused by a lack of dentists – a shortage that meant Islanders had to wait too long for treatment if they could access services at all.
He said: “I have received numerous representations from both constituents and dental professionals informing me that there are no dental practitioners on the Island accepting new patients.
“This has forced patients to cover the time and cost of travel to the mainland or forgo vital dental care.”
In his letter to Mr Barclay, Mr Seely highlighted research by Island health watchdog Healthwatch that had revealed the extent of the problem. Healthwatch concluded that some Islanders were suffering debilitating and excruciatingly painful symptoms, in some cases forcing them to wait in pain or to seek treatment on the mainland.
Yet despite the clear need for NHS dentists, the Island has been unable to attract them, leaving patients desperate for treatment with the NHS saying there was a wait of between three months and two years between check-ups.
Mr Seely, having also held discussions with local dentists, is urging the Government to take a series of steps to solve the recruitment problem.
These include launching a dental training scheme on the Island with Government funds to boost the salary of interns, making it easier to recruit experienced dentists and qualified practitioners from overseas and also allowing more treatments without a prescription from a dentist.
In his letter to Mr Barclay, the Island’s MP said: “I was pleased to see that a number of these suggestions relating to hiring overseas dentists will now be included in the Department for Health and Social Care’s approach to tackling the shortfall in dental staff nationally.
“I would again urge the Government to identify what steps it is taking to improve NHS dental provision on the Isle of Wight and to confirm that it will consider in full the initiatives outlined in this letter.”
