The first city-wide task force, set-up to tackle the city’s growing dental crisis, hit-the ground running last Friday (7 July), with organisations committing to working together to improve NHS capacity in Plymouth.
There are currently over 21,000 people in Plymouth waiting for an NHS dentist. This is an increase of nearly 120 per cent over the past five years.
One of the priorities of the new administration was to set-up a cross-party Dental Task Force, bringing together key stakeholders, local MPs and NHS leaders from across the city to discuss what can be done to improve dental provision in Plymouth.
On Friday, the Task Force met for the first time, with senior representatives from the Council, cross-party Councillors, NHS Devon and the two largest providers of NHS dental care in the city – Livewell Southwest and the Peninsula Dental School.
Chair of the Task Force, Councillor Mary Aspinall, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care at Plymouth City Council, said: “Our poor dental provision is impacting the daily lives of some of our most vulnerable residents. This can’t go on.
“This first Task-Force meeting was set-up as a proactive step to see how we can all work smarter together – to improve local services and importantly make a difference to people’s lives.”
At the meeting, NHS Devon committed to working with the main providers of NHS dental care in Plymouth, to look at whether local underspends in other areas of NHS dental provision could be re-prioritised. Currently, some high street providers are not able to provide NHS appointments. This means that the funding that is available for NHS dental treatment is not being used and subsequently returned.
In addition, as plans progress for the Peninsula Dental School’s new high-street practice in the city centre, NHS Devon has agreed to work with them to help make their ambition a reality. At the same time, Livewell South West and the Dental School will also start working more closely together to move capacity between their organisations, hopefully freeing up more appointments.
And finally, as plans to open a city centre health-hub at Colin Campbell Court are not possible, funding for the five dental chairs at the proposed hub still exists. Plymouth City Council will work with the NHS to establish other opportunities in the city to locate the service.
Councillor Aspinall, added: “This was a really successful first meeting. It is clear that there is still a lot of work to do, but we have made a positive first step in trying to ensure that more people have access to an NHS dentist in Plymouth.
“It is shocking that there are no dentists taking new NHS patients in Plymouth. There are thousands of people who are not able to get an appointment.
“But, if we are able to work together, reprioritise resource and funding, I am confident that we will be able to free up more capacity.
“One thing is clear – this is not something that we can do alone. The national approach to dentistry is intrinsically flawed. Our MPs have therefore committed to working together to lobby the Government for a fairer approach for Plymouth.
“I have said before that the time for posturing is over. We need action. We need to increase access to urgent and emergency dental care, we need to improve access to services for the most vulnerable children and adults and those with complex needs. We can do our bit – but that will only go so far. We now need the Government to step-up and play their part.”