South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes has written to the Health Secretary Wes Streeting calling for an additional allocation of dental school places in Lincolnshire.
In the letter, co-signed by other Lincolnshire MPs, Sir John calls for the upcoming NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to provide the University of Lincoln with additional dental school places given the long-standing recognition that Lincolnshire is a ‘dental desert’, meaning an area with a lower-than-average number of residents accessing NHS dentistry services and a severe shortage of dental professionals.
It is part of Sir John’s long running efforts to boost dental services in Lincolnshire which have included meeting Ministers, asking questions in Parliament, and recently meeting with the British Dental Association to see what can be done to improve provision in Lincolnshire.
Sir John said: “NHS dentistry in South Holland just isn’t good enough – I know because my family and I are NHS patients.
“Successive Governments have recognised the need to invest more in NHS dental provision in Lincolnshire, but we need action now, not just promises.
“Part of this must include increased dental training places, and I am determined to ensure that more of dentists train and work here in the south of the county.
“The University of Lincoln has made excellent progress in improving training and the retention of dental professionals in the area, and the launch of the Lincolnshire Institute of Dental and Oral Health, a new specialist facility within the Lincoln Medical School, is a big step forward.
“I will raise this with ministers in Parliament also, and in the coming months I will be showing the British Dental Association the situation in South Holland at first hand, as they are keen to see the scale of the problem in Lincolnshire and how it can be remedied.”
