One in 10 dentists no longer offering NHS treatments, FOI finds

One in 10 dentists in Scotland have stopped carrying out NHS treatments since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been revealed.

A freedom of information (FOI) request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats showed that compared to 2019/2020, 404 fewer dentists have been recorded as having performed NHS activity this year. Some 3,407 dentists offered NHS treatment in 2019/2020, with that number dropping by just under 100 to 3,308 the following year.

By 2021/22, the figure had further decreased to 3,262, before reaching 3,003 in April to July of this year. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, stating it is “getting harder and harder” to access NHS treatment at practices amid what he called a “dentistry crisis”.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “It’s been getting harder and harder to see a dentist on the NHS, even if you’re registered with a practice. “We found people turning to DIY dentistry in pain and desperation.”

One in 10 dentists in Scotland have stopped carrying out NHS treatments since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been revealed.

Citing the FOI request, the Scottish Lib Dem leader said: “Dentists have been warning the First Minister that Government funding no longer covers the costs. They say ministers have their heads in the sand.

“The dead hand of ministerial disinterest is at large once again.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton also criticised a further FOI request from the party which revealed that an advisory group to consider long-term reform of the dentistry sector has not yet been set up, despite being announced in March.

A response from the Scottish Government to the party, dated September 20, said: “The Dental Advisory Group is currently in the process of being set up. The membership of the group has not been confirmed and no meetings have taken place.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton told the chamber: “The centrepiece of the Scottish Government’s response to this crisis six months ago was the creation of a dental advisory group, but it still doesn’t have any members and it still hasn’t met.

“This is the group that wasn’t there. So can I ask the First Minister, when will it meet and what does she have to say to those patients who are waiting in pain?”

Nicola Sturgeon said her Government will “continue to work with and support NHS dentistry”.

“We have a record number of people registered with an NHS dentist in Scotland – more than 95% of the population are registered,” she said.

“We also see continued recovery in the numbers of people accessing NHS dentistry and getting dental examinations.

“So the statistics show that examination appointments have been increasing – an increase of 80% in examination appointments per month on average, compared with the period January to March this year, which reflects the impact of infection controls being reduced and also the re-introduction of payments linked to seeing and treating patients, and we will continue to invest in NHS dentistry.”