NEWS that the Broadlands Dental Surgery in Bridgend is going private this month is another blow to NHS dentistry in Wales.
Only 15 per cent of NHS practices now accept new patients and Wales has 83 fewer dentists than we had in 2020 because they have been leaving in droves.
You don’t have to look far to find the cause. Funding decisions taken by the Welsh Labour Government ever since it became responsible for the Welsh NHS in 1999 have resulted in Wales having a lower spend per head on dentistry than either Scotland or Northern Ireland. Prior to the pandemic the figures stood at £47 here compared to £55 and £56 there respectively.
Government expenditure on dental services in Wales has remained static in real terms over the past 15 years while access to dental services has dwindled as dentists have quit. And what was Welsh Government’s solution to the crisis?
A new contract for dentists which gives then 15 per cent less money than they were having six years ago. The British Dental Association has accused Welsh Government of chronic underfunding of Welsh dental services.
I have written to the health board to query how they will be catering for the Broadlands patients unable or unwilling to become private patients. I await their reply.