During the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into NHS dentistry, ministers heard from Healthwatch England representatives concerning the effect of increased fees and the cost of living crisis on patient access.

Taiwo Owatemi, MP for Coventry North West, said, “This year, the patient charge increased by 8.5 per cent. That is a lot, especially in the midst of a cost of living crisis. How would you say that that will impact patients, especially those who are already struggling to access dental health?”

In response, Sarah Fletcher, chief executive officer for Healthwatch Lincolnshire, said, “Massively. We have been told, time and again, that people are having to make difficult choices—almost impossible choices—between their heating and maybe dental.

“Obviously, dental is then the one that they choose not to go with because they just cannot afford it. We have families that are having to travel hundreds of miles to go to an NHS dentist. They have the cost of that on top of everything else and maybe a day off work. I just think that it will deter more and more people from accessing what is the only available choice in Lincolnshire, which is now private dentistry, just about.”

Sarah explained that even patients who are in acute pain are going years without treatment because they cannot afford it.

Chris McCann, Healthwatch England’s director of communications, campaigns and impact said, “The crisis of access and affordability is not just a health crisis, but a social equalities crisis. Those who are already being impacted by health inequalities are most affected.”

Chris added, “People from low-income families and minority ethnic backgrounds are twice as likely to avoid dental care due to costs as their white peers, and we see that children living in deprived areas are four times more likely to need to go to hospital and have teeth removed under anaesthetic than young people from more affluent areas.”

Chris pointed out that patients who delay accessing care can spend “a long time on painkillers and antibiotics, and their condition worsens.” Eventually, these patients end up in Accident and Emergency departments, in turn, “increasing pressures on the NHS”.

Chris argued, “What really needs to be done is a fundamental oral health needs assessment nationally in England. Then, when you know where the areas of need are, the resource should start to be based on that.”

Read the full transcript here https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13045/pdf/

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