Local Senedd Member Paul Davies has expressed his frustration over news that two dental surgeries are returning their General Dental Services (NHS) contracts to Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) on 30 November 2023.
This means that patients at Quay Street, Haverfordwest and Hendy-Gwyn, Whitland will no longer be able to receive NHS dental care at those practices.
The news comes as a particular shock, given that the First Minister himself has said that over 17,000 more patients are receiving NHS dental care in the Health Board area and that the Welsh Government has made extra investment to ensure more people can access NHS dental services.
Mr Davies said, “It’s deeply disappointing to see more dental practices handing back their NHS contracts to the local Health Board and I know this will be a blow for patients. Access to NHS dental services has long been a problem in Pembrokeshire and yet, when challenged, the First Minister simply won’t acknowledge the severity of the problem and instead maintains the view that thousands more NHS dental appointments have been made available.”
He added, “I continue to receive a significant amount of correspondence from people across Pembrokeshire regarding dental services. Many are living in discomfort and pain and it’s simply not good enough. The Welsh Government and Hywel Dda University Health Board need to recognise that this is a crisis and redouble their efforts to attract dentists providing NHS care to the area.”
