Report highlights difficulties getting NHS dental care in Halton
Concerns over access to NHS dental services has been one of the main issues people have raised with us over the last 18 months. We have seen a large increase in the number of enquiries from people in need of NHS Dental services locally, and an increase in the number of people telling us they have been removed as an NHS patient from their existing practice and had nowhere to go for treatment.
The plain and simple fact is it isn’t easy to find a dentist in Halton taking on new NHS patients.
Our report highlights just some of the issues local people have been facing while trying to access NHS dental treatment.
Healthwatch England has called on the Government and NHS England to speed up dental contract reform and provide significant and sustained funding to tackle the underlying dual problems of dental access and affordability. We support this call, as currently NHS dentistry is neither accessible nor affordable for everyone. But it should be!
‘The online system is an absolute joke. Needless to say, after spending 18 months ringing around every single one in Halton there are no spaces, nor can I get on a waiting list.’
