York Outer Conservative MP Julian Sturdy has hit back at a Labour attack for not supporting an opposition Dentistry Rescue Plan.

Rival Labour candidate for the currently Conservative constituency Luke Charters said the Labour policy, which was debated in parliament on Tuesday, would see 700,000 more urgent dentistry appointments, incentives to recruit dentists to areas where they are most in need and reforms to the contracts with dentists to build up the service in the long term.

The vote came as new figures, according to the candidate, reveal that, of the 18 dental surgeries who have provided a recent update in York, 17 are not currently accepting any new adult patients.  

Mr Charters said: “Patients in York Outer are finding it impossible to see a dentist, with some having to resort to DIY dentistry. Yet when the chance came to do something about it, Julian Sturdy voted against."

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“The Conservatives think that people should be happy with the poor service we have today. Another five years of the Conservatives will see NHS dentistry gone for good. 

“Labour has a plan to rescue NHS dentistry from this crisis and get patients seen on time again.”

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell, however, voted for the policy, which Labour says would cost £110m and would be funded by abolishing the non-domiciled tax status.

Ms Maskell said: “As another dental practice in York turns private, more patients are left without the dental care they need.

York Press: York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell

“Despite taking the Secretary of State for Health to task last month at the Health and Social Care Select Committee, the Government have still failed to publish any plan as to how to save the nation’s teeth.”

The MP added: “The oral health of our country is in sharp decline with 169 children a day having their teeth extracted, the biggest reason why children attend the NHS, while adults are left for years on waiting lists or denied access to them and 1 in 10 attempting DIY Dentistry.”  

In the debate, launched by Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, MPs of all parties spoke of the problems faced by people seeking dental care.

Among them, Selby MP Keir Mather, who told the house of a constituent who had to pull out a daughter’s tooth as dental provision is so poor locally, and of army veterans unable to find dentists who will register them.

York Press: Keir Mather, Labour MP for Selby and Ainsty

The recently-elected Labour MP said: “In Selby and Ainsty, we have been left with just nine dental practices offering NHS services; we have just nine for a vast rural constituency that stretches from Doncaster in the south to Harrogate in the north, and suffers fundamentally with issues such as a lack of public transport in our rural areas—it is simply not good enough.”

However, Julian Sturdy says the pandemic hit dental services, with seven million fewer patients seen in 2021 and 2021. Scotland and Wales, whose devolved government are run by Labour or an SNP-Green Coalition, have similar problems to England, he told the Press.

The Conservative MP continued: “Rather than try to point score, I have focussed my energy on action and dedicated much of the last year focussing on addressing the local shortfalls in NHS dentistry. I hosted a meeting between the Intergrated Care Board who are in charge of tendering NHS services and the Minister for Primary Health, visited a number of dental practices to discuss challenges and potential solutions, chaired a national conference panel on access to NHS dentistry, and applied three times for a Westminster Hall debate on access to NHS dentistry in York and North Yorkshire.

“Only last month, I held discussions with the new Minister for Primary Health Dame Andrea Leadsom MP to discuss what can be done in the short-term to boost the number of NHS dental appointments and she took a particular interest in the retendering process ongoing in York following the closure of the Bupa Holgate Road practice.”

Mr Sturdy added: “I will continue my efforts on behalf of constituents and will be inviting local dentists to join me for a roundtable discussion with the Minister so York can be part of the solution, not just used for political point scoring.”

In the Westminster debate, which Labour lost by 291 to 199, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs she was “determined to fix these issues” with NHS dentistry “so that anyone who needs to can always see an NHS dentist no matter where they live in the country”.

Ms Atkins also warned that Labour’s plans to axe the non-dom status could hit the number of foreign workers recruited into the NHS.