Councillor Terry Scriven

A recent survey of Ringwood North identified hundreds of residents, many of them children, who were unable to register with an NHS dentist in the area.

The majority are not getting dental treatment and some are having to travel as far as Bournemouth and Southampton or simply having to elect to go private to receive treatment.

Councillor Scriven said this is a scandalous situation, made worse by the fact there appears to be no money in the PCT budget and certainly no plans in the foreseeable future for the PCT, according to the SW Hampshire PCT Dental Lead, to address what is a critical situation for many families.

I have requested an urgent meeting with the Chief Executive of the PCT to discuss the provision of dental care and why despite the recent additional government infusion of over one hundred million pounds nothing has been done to address the problem of dentistry in Ringwood.

Ringwood Town Council, surprisingly, do not have a Council member responsible for representing the health interests of the community and Councillor Scriven has requested that this is rectified as soon as possible.

As a town council we really do need to keep abreast of what is taking place in our community said Councillor Scriven and where there are problems we must do something about them. This means getting out and talking to people. The results of the Liberal Democrat Survey should not have come as a surprise to the Council.

Notes:

New Forest have 32 dentists, 30 of whom are not accepting new NHS patients.

In 1997 the New Forest NHS patients totalled 102,998 in 2005 this figure had dropped to 65,067 despite an increase of residents in the area. Between 2004 and 2005 the fall was from over 68,000 to just on 65,000 NHS patients

From April 1st 2006 Primary Care Trusts have had a specific remit for reviewing oral health needs of their population and commissioning services to meet these needs.