Lack of NHS dental services in Luton after lockdown while 'Victorian DIY dentistry' makes comeback

A meeting of the council’s health and well-being board was told that priority appears to be given to private patients ahead of those entitled to treatment on the NHS.

And in an email response from the British Dental Association, councillors were told many of the public had resorted to "DIY Victorian dentistry" during lockdown.

The issue of NHS dental surgeries was raised by Labour council leader and Lewsey councillor Hazel Simmons

Councillor Simmons said: “We’re getting a lot of queries and questions from the public about the lack of services being offered by dentists on NHS support, while private treatment is being carried out.

"I have taken it up with the dental authorities and we should ask for someone from the British Dental Association (BDA) to explain the reasons for operating what is, in effect, a two-tier system.

“You don’t need toothache and then be told, ‘We can only give you antibiotics. We can’t treat you because you’re an NHS patient’.

“That’s not the way we normally operate as a country, and I wouldn’t want to see that become a norm,” added councillor Simmons, who chairs the board.

Director of primary care for the Luton and BLMK CCGs Nicky Poulain said: “I know I’ve had some helpful response from my colleagues at NHS England and NHS Improvement.

“So I’m very happy to do a small little working group because they’re the accountable commissioners.

“Equally the CCG has a responsibility to work with them to get the service into our local population.”

All practices (NHS and private) are currently restricted to 60-minute gaps between procedures that generate aerosols (anything involving high speed instruments), according to an email from British Dental Association.

It said the overwhelming majority of practices can see less than a quarter of usual patient volumes.

Public Health England was expected to update its guidance on this.

Mick Armstrong, chairman of the BDA, said: “The suspension of dental services during lockdown impacted on countless families and saw a return to the sort of DIY dentistry that belonged in the Victorian era.

“Practices have reopened, but at a fraction of their former capacity. The result is too many patients still lack options.

“Services millions depend on require long-term support if they’re going to survive the new normal.”

Upon reopening on June 8, most practices reported severe shortages of kit, limiting what procedures they could perform.

While personal protective equipment shortages remain a real issue, most NHS and private practices are now capable of offering a fuller range of treatment, but to a limited number of patients, added the BDA.

Practices have been offered state support for their NHS work. Private practices have seen only minimal government assistance.

Most of the UK’s 12,000 practices combine both NHS and private work to varying degrees.