Rennie leads Debate on NHS Dentistry
Willie Rennie and the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs led a debate in the Scottish Parliament on NHS dentistry in February. Ahead of the debate Willie asked people to get in touch with their experiences and received over three hundred responses. The key themes which people raised are summarised in this report. It is clear that many people don’t have problems, are registered with an NHS dentist and are able to receive treatment. However many others can’t register. Some people are travelling long distances to be seen, facing long waits even if they are registered, or have gone years without seeing a dentist.
Willie raised these issues when he spoke in the debate. You can see his speech here.
Speaking in the debate, Willie Rennie said:
"In preparation for this debate, I asked for people’s experiences of NHS dentistry. I had a tidal wave of responses, and they are still being sent to me today. The stories are nothing short of extraordinary.
“The steps people take are nothing short of extreme. These included: DIY dentistry with tools bought on Amazon, travelling hundreds of miles, paying a small fortune, hunting for an NHS dentist for weeks on end without success.
Speaking after the debate he added:
“In our debate today the Scottish Liberal Democrats laid bare the stark reality of NHS dentistry under the SNP. We put forward practical measures to fix this crisis. The government needs to bring in a fee system which reflects dentists’ true costs, to raise the cap on student dentists, and to speed up the registration process for overseas dentists.”