Member's statement: NHS Dentistry: Crisis in Northern Ireland

Member's statement by Ms Cara Hunter on 6 May 2025.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

6 May 2025

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

NHS Dentistry: Crisis in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4929232

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak more about the crisis in NHS dentistry across Northern Ireland. Thousands of people, many of whom are my constituents, are being silently and systematically cut from one of their most basic healthcare needs: dental care. Over the past two years alone, more than 53,000 NHS dental patients have been removed from practice lists. That is not just a statistic: that is 53,000 individuals, including children, pensioners and low-income workers, who are now unable to access the care that they were promised as part of our National Health Service. A lack of NHS contracts is causing much frustration. In 2023, 114 dentists handed back their NHS contract. Today, out of 360 dental practices across Northern Ireland, only two are fully NHS. Let that sink in. That means that people across my constituency — from Claudy to Dungiven, Feeny, Coleraine and beyond — are ringing round dentists in desperation. One constituent with whom I recently spoke was shocked to receive a letter saying that his dental practice would no longer offer NHS treatment. The message was blunt: go private or go elsewhere. However, where is "elsewhere"? As one NHS dentist bravely said, their practice is at full capacity. The system is beyond strain. Although we are told that investment is on the way and reform is promised, patients are being left behind right now.

We are not just losing services; we are witnessing the dismantling of the founding promise of the NHS, which is that care should be based on need, not on the ability to pay. The reality now is this: if you cannot afford a private dental plan, you are out of options. At a time when family budgets are so tight, no one can afford that extra £20 to £30 a month for dental care.

This is not simply about inconvenience. It is about preventable pain, early diagnoses being missed and long-term health conditions that start in the mouth but end in emergency rooms. The Department of Health says that £9 million has been invested, but the British Dental Association says that that falls drastically short of what is needed. Dentists are walking away because they cannot survive under the current funding models. It is truly unsustainable, and, for my constituents, I feel that it is unjust. I ask this: is this the end of NHS dentistry in Northern Ireland? We in the SDLP say that it cannot be and that the current situation cannot continue. We need urgent interim funding to retain what NHS provision we have currently, fair contracts for dentists and a ministerial commitment that no citizen should be denied care based on their postcode or their purse. Oral health is not a luxury but a right, and it is long over time that we treated it as such.

469 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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