Healthwatch Southend knows that local people are struggling to find an NHS dentist. We looked at the NHS website to see how up to date the information is, and how many dentists will see NHS patients. We also phoned dental practices to see how many of them are seeing children. Our results were disappointing.
Most dentists’ entries on the website were out of date – one had not updated the entry since 2011. Only a couple of dentists were taking on new patients at the time of writing
We only found a couple of dentists who were accepting children
We know that there are some dentists outside Southend who will see new patients. We took an imaginary patient and worked out the costs of her journey from Shoebury to Canvey Island. Although there is a cap on bus fares until the end of March, at other times it would cost her just over £9 and mean over three hours by bus to travel to the dentist and home. The cost of living has a real impact on people’s oral health.
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We shared our findings with Mid & South Essex Integrated Care Board, who will take on the planning and funding of NHS dentistry from April. We have also sent copies to Southend City Council, with a recommendation that the People Scrutiny Committee look at dentistry at a future meeting.