1 in 2 Sutton Dentists Shut Doors to New Registrations

12.00.00am GMT Tue 24th Feb 2004

One in two dentists in Sutton have closed their doors to new NHS patients, a survey conducted by Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has revealed.

Half of all local dental practices have adopted closed list policies, with 30 out of a total of 69 practices currently not taking on any new NHS patients at all, and a further 4 practices only accepting children as new patients.

Whilst the number of decayed or filled teeth amongst 5 year old children in Sutton and Merton PCT is 32% above the national government target, recent statistics obtained by Paul Burstow MP reveal that for both adults and children registrations in the local health authority continue to lag behind the national average, with only 1 out of 3 adults and 1 in 2 children registered locally.

Paul Burstow MP commented:

"With so few local dentists accepting NHS patients it is little wonder that the levels of people registering with the NHS are so low. As NHS dental cover declines so too is dental health.

"The Government is sitting idly by whilst NHS dental care becomes harder to find.

"The Government must get to grips with the crisis in dental care. Every patient deserves to be able to register with a local NHS dentist not have to journey miles and miles in search of service.

"The Government must also do more to put the message across to people who do manage to register with a dentists, that if they do not use their dentist within 15 months they will be removed from their practices' list automatically."