Report predicts “dental deserts” as people struggle to get seen
Dentists are fearing disaster in Greater Lincolnshire as more people are being left waiting to get appointments in the region that is the worst affected in the whole country by a lack of availability.
A report from the Association of Dental Groups has flagged up the alarming issue in Greater Lincolnshire, with three of the four areas in the UK with the lowest proportion of dentists being in our region.
North Lincolnshire CCG has just 32 NHS dentists per 100,000 people, making it the worst in the country, while North East Lincolnshire has 37 and Lincolnshire has 38 per 100,000 people.
It makes Greater Lincolnshire the hardest place to recruit dentists in the country, and there are a number of factors at play to cause these issues – including the COVID-19 backlog and Brexit.
Issy Bun moved to North Lincolnshire from London after COVID lockdown, and she described it as “not fair” that it is so much easier to be registered with a GP dentist in the capital.
She said: “It’s not fair that if I lived in London it would be fine for me to register as an NHS patient, but up here I have no chance.”
The government has said that the Levelling Up agenda should address some of these problems in the dentistry sector of the NHS.
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