Dental crisis in Market Drayton made much worse by lack of public transport, MP Helen Morgan says

The MP for North Shropshire has today raised concerns that towns like Market Drayton – with poor or non-existent public transport links – are amongst the worst hit by the NHS dental crisis.

According to the NHS ‘Find a dentist’ website, there are currently no NHS dental surgeries accepting adults available within 15 miles of Market Drayton – and none at all with a direct public transport link to the town.

Recent government data has shown that in North Shropshire, only 35.4 per cent of adults and 49.8 per cent of children have seen a dentist in the last two years, with only 9 per cent of dental practices taking on new patients.

Helen Morgan MP said: “Market Drayton residents are being hit hard by the NHS dental crisis.

"There are no NHS dentists accepting adults within 15 miles of town, and none that have a direct or easy link by public transport – the situation is getting really appalling for some of our most vulnerable and in-need.

“I’ve had a number of harrowing stories from constituents who simply cannot access the care that they need.

"The system is broken and contracts are in dire need of reform so that rural areas like ours don’t get left behind, and so that people in Market Drayton can access good quality NHS dental services.”

A damning report by The Health and Social Care Committee, published on July 14, found that people had been forced to pull out their own teeth at home because they could not access or afford an NHS dentist.

The Health and Social Care Committee’s examination of NHS dentistry calls for “urgent and fundamental reform” and said there was evidence of pain and distress that is “totally unacceptable in the 21st century."

The document cites a YouGov poll of 2,104 people across the UK conducted in March 2023.

MP Helen Morgan said many of her constituents had been in touch, among those are residents that are new to the area and who have been unable to register at a dentist whatsoever, as well as registered patients who have been forced to pay more following their practices move from NHS to private care, and patients who have been forced to wait months due to appointment backlogs to name but a few.

MP Helen Morgan says the overriding theme is a service that is creaking under the weight of underfunding and over-demand.