£6.8million to help tackle the lack of dentist appointments
The news comes after we, and many other Healthwatches around the country, have repeatedly highlighted the difficulties you, and your family, are facing to get an NHS dental appointment.
The NHS is giving £6.8 million to the South East which will be used to increase the number of appointments available between now and the end of March. Dentists will be paid extra so that they can offer extra appointments at weekends, early mornings and evenings.
Children, people with learning disabilities, autism, or severe mental health problems, will be prioritised.
Since the pandemic started, more people have contacted us about NHS dentists, than any other topic. Every day we hear from people who are desperately trying to get dental care, so the news about more appointments being made available is definitely welcome.
However the money announced today is only a short term fix. We will continue to raise your stories with dentists and commissioners to seek a long term solution to our dental system so do keep telling us your stories.
