Your Healthwatch making national headlines

Our work highlighting how hard it is to get an NHS dental appointment made the national news this week.

Both The Independent and The Guardian led with articles on how people across England are unable to sign up with an NHS dentist for routine care and, even when they are signed up, wait months for a routine appointment.

Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness and Healthwatch Cumberland – as part of the North East North Cumbria Healthwatch Network - spoke to 3,500 people via surveys, mystery shopping and user engagement, for research to help the North East North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) in its new role of commissioning dental services.

The NENC Healthwatch Network brings together 14 local Healthwatch, in a pioneering partnership model to address health inequalities across the north of England.

The report highlighted that people felt access to urgent care was a ‘lottery’ – more luck than decisions made through clear guidelines or need. Respondents felt NHS 111's clinical definition was too high and the triage service didn't help people in pain. Many are concerned about the lack of routine dental care appointments and worry that lack of regular check-ups will cause long-term problems in the future.

Lack of access to dental care means people are living in pain and often need more extreme treatments when they do get to see a dentist. People don't understand if they need to be registered with a specific practice and find fee structures too complex. This is not helped by different services using different language or outdated terms.

Healthwatch research showed that 71% of people surveyed felt NHS dentistry services are worse than they were a year ago. This is driven by lack of access to routine appointments and being 'de-listed' by their usual practice. Key barriers included: the costs of travelling to a dentist with NHS appointments; the cost of private dental fees; the challenges of articulating needs for those with learning disabilities or special needs; the difficulties of navigating the system and understanding what care to access, where and when.

NHS data also reflects this ongoing feedback. In September 2025, 10% fewer adults had seen an NHS dentist in the past 24 months compared to 2019. As a result, problems are not being prevented or treated early enough, and urgent care becomes the only form of dental care people can access. 

Healthwatch England’s analysis of the latest NHS figures also reveals widening gaps in dental care between richer and poorer communities. Although the number of NHS dental treatments carried out in deprived areas has grown, people living in these areas are now 67% more likely to undergo urgent dental treatment than those in the most affluent areas – up from 40% in 2019.

There are fewer NHS dentists in rural and deprived areas and this forces low-income patients to rely on urgent care for preventable dental problems, as they have no recourse to routine care or afford private treatment. 

Read our full report here.

Healthwatch Assistant Head of Service for Cumbria and Lancashire, Kate Rees, said: “Government initiatives to create more appointments and get patients easier access to routine and emergency treatment are, of course, welcome. However the current dental contract needs to be reviewed, and NHS dentistry provision made fairer and more easily accessible in rural parts of the country, such as Cumbria, and areas of deprivation.

“Poor oral health has a huge effect on overall health, including increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, so looking after the nation’s teeth needs to be a significant part of the NHS’s focus on preventative and community health care.”

What to do if you have a dental emergency?

If you need immediate care for your teeth, you should: