New dentist places for Winchester

2.11.00pm GMT Wed 27th Jan 2010

Hampshire Health bosses are now planning a significant number of extra NHS dentist places in Winchester - including a new centre that will be open 7 days a week from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m.

Winchester's Prospective Lib Dem MP, Martin Tod, met Hampshire health bosses in late October to get an update on plans following his campaign over the last 2 years for more dentist places.

Martin Tod commented:

"I've been pushing to get extra NHS dentist places for Winchester for over 2 years, so I'm very pleased to see this plan for a new centre.

"There's a real need for these new places. There was a collapse in the number of people going to NHS dentists after Labour brought in a new contract for dentists in March 2007. The numbers are now recovering, but they're still below what they were."

In Martin Tod's 2007 Health Survey, 43% of local people had problems finding a local NHS dentist. Even now, NHS places only rarely come available. In a survey by Mark Oaten in Summer 2009, 22% of people said they had not visited a dentist in the last year.

Mr Tod got national news coverage when he helped Winchester resident, Elizabeth Green, find a dentist after she felt forced to pull out two of her own teeth - and this was one of the things that led NHS bosses to look again at plans for Winchester.

To find the nearest NHS dentist or to get emergency care, call the Hampshire Dental Helpline on 0845 050 8345.

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Facts

Key dentistry statistics -

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-for-england:-2008-09

38% of Hampshire adults (vs 50% nationally) and 62% of children (vs 70% nationally) have visited an NHS dentist in the last 2 years (overall 43% vs 54% nationally). [Better than last year - but still down vs the time prior to the introduction of the new NHS dentist contract).

In the year to March 2009, there were 65,193 courses of emergency treatment vs. 54,678 in the year to 2007 when the new contract was introduced.

The number of people using NHS dentistry in the previous 2 years in the Hampshire PCT area has fallen from 573,159 to 549,811 between the 2 years to March 2007 and the 2 years to June 2009 (the most recent figures) - although the most recent figures have recovered from a low of 532,486 in the 2 years to June 2008. The number of adults treated has fallen by 11,286 and the number of children by 12,062.

A 2007 Lib Dem survey of over 1,000 Winchester and Chandler's Ford residents shows that 15% of adults and 25% of adults under 40 have not visited the dentist in the last 12 months. 43% of people in the survey have had difficulty trying to get treatment for themselves or their family with a local NHS dentist.