NHS DENTISTRY

Motion Text

That this House notes with deep concern the decisions by dental practitioners at Ammanford and Machynlleth over the course of the last month to terminate the treatment of patients on the NHS; expresses concern that these events confirm there is a crisis in NHS dentistry in Wales; recalls the scenes in Carmarthen Town last summer, when over 600 people queued in the hope of gaining access to NHS treatment; further notes that Wales has less NHS dentists per head than any other part of the UK; believes that the crisis in NHS dentistry is further testimony of the inept handling of the NHS by the New Labour Welsh Assembly governments; and calls on the New Labour governments in London and Cardiff to initiate policies that make it viable for dentists to continue to practise with the NHS as a means of tackling growing dental health inequalities.