Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has made fresh calls for the Health Minister to urgently resolve the dental care crisis in Wales after learning that yet another dental practice in his constituency is quitting the NHS.
White Gable Dental Practice in Colwyn Bay have sent letters to NHS patients advising that “we have taken the decision to relinquish our small NHS contract, which means that the provision of your dental care will change from September 1st 2023. We will only be offering private or Denplan dental services from that date onwards.”
Darren, who has been raising concerns regarding access to NHS dentists in the Welsh Parliament in recent months, has expressed his concern at the news and is once again urging the Heath Minister to take action to address the dentistry crisis in North Wales.
He said:
“Earlier this year, following the announcement that Ruthin Dental Practice is to cease providing NHS treatment to adult patients, I launched a petition calling on the Welsh Government and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to ensure that affected patients continue to have access to NHS dental services.
“I am now having to launch a petition to safeguard NHS services in Colwyn Bay!
“The Welsh Government was warned that unless it acted to address concerns raised by the dentistry profession about its new dental contract, many dentists in Wales would withdraw from the provision of NHS services, but it refused to listen and we now find ourselves in this position.
“As I told the First Minister earlier this year, sixteen years ago when I first became a Member of the Senedd, people were able to access two NHS check-ups a year, and most people in my constituency were able to register with a local NHS dentist without any issues.
“Now NHS dentistry, particularly in North Wales, appears to be falling off a cliff.
“We've now gone down to a system whereby most people can only access a check-up every 12 months, if that, and, in when people move home, they're not able to register with a local NHS dentist. I have constituents having to go to Scotland in order to receive their NHS dental treatment because they cannot register in my constituency. It’s a simply ludicrous set up and the Health Minister needs to stop burying her head in the sand and instead come up with a plan to ensure that people have access to an NHS dentist when they need one.”
To sign Darren’s petition to safeguard NHS services in Colwyn Bay, pleased click on the following link: https://www.darrenmillar.wales/save-our-nhs-dental-services-colwyn-bay
