'First Minister should correct misleading statements on dentistry' - Plaid MS

Plaid Cymru’s North Wales MS is calling for the First Minister to correct statements made to the Senedd regarding dental services.

Llyr Gruffydd MS wants First Minister Eluned Morgan to apologise to dentists after misleading statements to questions he raised in a recent meeting of the Senedd’s Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister.

Mr Gruffydd said: “A damning letter from the British Dental Association’s Welsh chair makes clear that the First Minister misled the Senedd on three critical matters regarding dentistry in Wales.

“Firstly, in a response to a question I asked last month, she claimed dentists had received a financial uplift greater than GPs. The BDA, in a very hard-hitting rebuttal, has explained that GPs received 11% whereas dentists got 6%. Dentists say this was insufficient to cover high inflationary pressures and significant increases in practice running costs.

“Secondly, she also claims NICE guidelines state that people with healthy teeth only need to see their dentist every two years. These are just guidelines and the BDA, who represent dentists, make it clear that 24 months is the maximum period and that children in particular need to be seen far more frequently. The First Minister’s statement does not consider other types of oral disease that dentists treat routinely, including periodontal disease or risk factors for disease. A patient with healthy teeth and periodontal disease may require a three month recall interval.

 “Finally, there is no shortage of dentists in Wales – the problem is in recruiting them to work within the NHS. That’s a matter of funding and better working conditions. This Labour Government has failed miserably to make the system work for patients and dentists, leading to an increasing exodus of dentists from the NHS.

 “The First Minister should be ashamed of herself for wilfully misleading the Senedd and wider public about the crisis we face in NHS dentistry. Rather than spin a confection of untruths, she needs to correct the record and apologise to the BDA and everyone else who works in dentistry in Wales.”

Mr Gruffydd is writing to the First Minister and to the Presiding Officer Elin Jones to ask the FM to correct the record in light of the BDA’s letter [see below]