On March 28, 2023, the first minister of Wales was questioned by politicians on the growing NHS dentistry waiting list.
Mark Drakeford has been urged by Plaid Cymru politicians to address the growing crisis, particularly for rural communities. According to Cumbrian News, research has found that in “south Ceredigion alone 2,511, were on the Hywel Dda Health Board’s waiting list for an NHS dentist.”
Cefin Campbell MS asked Mark during questions to the first minister, “What is the Welsh Government doing to improve access to dental provision in Mid and West Wales?”
Elaborating on his question, Cefin said, “The dental situation in rural Wales is critical at the moment, and the change to contracts recently has caused real concern, as was expressed to me in recent correspondence from the Dyfed Powys dental committee. Even dentists who succeed in meeting the requirements of the new contracts have noted that they're doing so at the expense of treating their current patients, and these changes are causing real stress, which means that many dentists are now considering their future as NHS partners. In Powys alone, over 4,500 are on the waiting list for NHS dentists—10 per cent of those are children—and more and more families are facing difficult decisions, with many travelling abroad for dental treatment.
“First Minister, do you agree with the sentiment expressed in the recent Government statement on dental reform that private dentistry is an acceptable alternative, or will we see a real commitment from Welsh Government to work with the profession to ensure a dental service that works for everyone in Wales?”
In response, Mark said, “Last year, just under one million people in Wales received NHS dental treatment. There were well over one million treatments on the NHS, and that included 155,000 additional NHS patients because of contract reform, 20,000 of those shared between Hywel Dda and Powys health board. So, while there are undoubtedly challenges in the field of dentistry, and a lot more ground that we need to gain, actually, it's fewer and fewer, not more and more, Welsh citizens who are needing to find treatment elsewhere. And as we move forward with the contract, in consultation and negotiation with the dental profession, we will be able to do even more, and that will include, the £5,000 salary uplift that we are offering to future dental trainees who are willing to complete their foundation year in dental practices in rural Wales rather than taking up opportunities in the more popular urban areas. That combination of contract reform, further financial investment, liberalisation of the profession—there is a way to go, but there is a formula in Wales that we have started to put in practice and is beginning to succeed.”
Jane Dobbs MS, also questioned the first minister. She said, “I just want to just focus my question, if I may, on children and young people. I'm sure we'd all agree that they should be able to access NHS dentistry. In Powys, as Cefin has mentioned, over 800 children are waiting for an NHS dentist, and, to be fair to Powys, they are one of only two health boards who keep data on children waiting for NHS dentistry. I just wonder if you could provide an update, an outline of the plan the government has in order to help children who are waiting for NHS dentistry across Wales.”
Mark explained that “practical action” for children is already underway, with a pilot scheme being carried out in secondary schools in North Wales. Concerning Powys specifically, the first minister explained that the health board has recruited, “a paediatric specialist dentist who can carry out more of the specialist treatment that is necessary without children needing to leave the county, and an additional dental therapist focusing exclusively on children. I understand that the figure of 800 to which Jane Dodds referred has already been reduced by more than 100 as a result of that additional resource”.