Since Covid-19, a significant crisis in dentistry across Scotland has been taking place. Access to NHS dentists has fallen to an all-time low and this is having an effect on people’s dental health.
ALDC and the Scottish Lib Dem Campaigns Team have put together Campaign Pack to help you campaign on this major issue in your local area. You can find the full pack here.
We have also put together a template Council Motion for you to move on your council to call for action to improve access to dentistry. It include links to localised statistics for your area.
The template Council Motion is below:
Council notes that access to NHS Dentistry in the area of [Local Health Board] has become significantly harder in recent years for residents of [Local Authority].
Council further notes that the number of NHS dental claims in [Local Health Board] has reduced from (spreadsheet 1 Column B) in 2019 to (spreadsheet 1 Column D) between January and November 2022.
Council further notes that the number of dentists now performing NHS work has fallen by [spreadsheet column D minus column G] in [Local Health Board] compared to pre-pandemic.
Council understands that many dentists are not accepting new NHS patients and that polling has shown that many of those registered have been unable to get appointments, leaving people in pain and causing wider mouth health issues to be missed.
Council believes that access to NHS dentistry is essential for residents of [Local Authority] and that the SNP/Green Scottish Government is failing to reform the funding structures so that dentists can return to taking on NHS activity and enable more patients to be seen.
Council requests that the Council leader contacts both [Local Health Board] to present a report at a future Council meeting on both the challenges and solutions to the issue locally, as well as the Scottish Health Secretary to request urgent action to tackle the lack of access to NHS dentists.