DENTAL patients who say they’re having to make 90-minute journeys to secure an appointment have had their views put to Parliament by a Barnsley MP.

A public meeting was held for residents in Silkstone and Silkstone Common recently, which heard the toil faced by locals who are having to travel far and wide due to a lack of local places.

During business questions to the leader of the House of Commons, Marie Tidball who represents the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency told Parliament about her meeting with constituents.

She said: “Some constituents are having to travel 20 miles, taking up to an hour-and-a-half, to get to an NHS dentist appointment.

“This issue affects people right across my constituency, with many being forced to go private, pay additional transport costs or go without an appointment until they need urgent hospital treatment all pushing up their cost of living.”

The local MP asked the leader of the house, Alan Campbell MP, how she can work with Health Ministers to ensure that constituents can access NHS dentist appointments in their communities, particularly in rural areas.

In response to her question, he told Parliament that the government ‘are very aware of the challenges facing dentistry’.

He highlighted the fact that the government are rolling out 700,000 more urgent dental appointments from April and also confirmed he would secure a meeting for Marie with the relevant local health ministers.

New figures from last month revealed that the government is on track to deliver millions more dental appointments this year, with 1.8 million additional treatments already delivered.

The government pledged to deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments and integrated care boards (ICBs) have commissioned nearly one million appointments in line with this commitment.

Marie added: “Thanks so much to everyone who attended my meeting.

“My top priority is delivering on the changes that will make life better in our communities and it was wonderful to come together to hear your key concerns and some creative opportunities to improve life in Silkstone and Silkstone Common.

“It was clear from our meeting that difficulties getting NHS dentistry appointments in local communities like Silkstone and Silkstone Common is creating huge barriers to good dental care and driving up the cost of living.

“The current situation is unacceptable and I look forward to meeting with the Health Minister soon to discuss next steps to improving access to NHS dentistry, particularly for our most rural communities.

“I’ll also holding more events across our communities to make sure I can raise key local concerns, like NHS dentistry, in Parliament directly.

“Keep an eye out on my social media and for local leaflets advertising upcoming events in your local area and please get in touch with me at marie.tidball.casework@parliament.uk if you’d like any further information about how to get involved.”

A large number of practices are still not currently able to offer new patients a routine appointment, and are therefore placed on a waiting list due to a lack of staff.

The amount of dentists available to see patients has dropped by 21 per cent since the pandemic struck in March 2020, when practices stopped all non-urgent treatment, leading to a growing backlog.

According to the British Dental Association (BDA), unhappiness with NHS contracts relating to both the length and cost were key factors as to why issues have been encountered.

Stephanie Peacock, who represents Barnsley South, said it’s vital that people can access dentistry services.

“Over the past 15 years, access to dentistry services across the country has become increasingly difficult.

“In South Yorkshire, there are communities that have levels of tooth decay which are more than four times higher than other parts of the country.

“I ran a survey on dentistry to hear directly from the community in Barnsley about their experiences with NHS dentistry.

“I found that, in our community, over 61 per cent of people who responded to the survey hadn’t seen a dentist in two years or more, and only 15 per cent of respondents said that it wasn’t ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to access dentistry services.

“Indeed, last year, the BDA reported that 96.9 per cent of people across the country who did not have a dentist and tried to access NHS dental care were unsuccessful in getting an appointment.

“Our rescue plan outlined a number of measures to get dentistry back on track this has included providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments.

“It will also mean recruiting more dentists in areas that need them most to alleviate the crisis in the short term.”