Debate contribution: NHS Dentistry: North Belfast

Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on 14 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Phillip Brett

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

14 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

NHS Dentistry: North Belfast

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5482946

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I raise the matter with deep frustration and genuine anger on behalf of those whom I represent, because the stark reality is that NHS dental provision in North Belfast is collapsing, with patient registration at an all-time low, providers being overworked and underpaid and my constituents being forced to either live in pain or register for private provision that they cannot afford. To be frank, the time for talking by the Department of Health is over, and the time for action is now. The Minister stated to me last February that dental reform was one of his top priorities. If that is the case, I expect today that there will be action for my constituents. To be frank, the measures taken by the Minister to date have had no positive impact on the constituents whom I represent in North Belfast. That is not to take away from the Minister's genuine commitment to the issue, but it is the lived experience of those in my constituency. At the outset of my remarks, I pay tribute to a number of groups, organisations and individuals, the first of whom are my constituents in North Belfast. When I first launched the campaign just after Christmas, my office was inundated with people — young and old, working and retired — who were simply at their wits' end. Over 300 individuals shared their personal story with me about their desperate search for affordable treatment for them and their family. That shows the scale of the issue. With your indulgence, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will read into the record a number of those examples. One constituent wrote:

"Hello Mr Brett. I am writing to you regarding finding an NHS dentist in Newtownabbey. My dentist went private, and I have to pay £130 every three months. I literally had to borrow money from relatives or continue to be in extreme pain. I am entitled to more support, but I cannot get it. I live in fear of needing more work done, and I am choosing between eating or seeing a dentist."

Another said:

"Hello Mr Brett. I work part time and have three children that live with me, two children who are unable to get the help and support they need. I booked private appointments which cost me £150 each, and the treatment bill was £2,300. I cannot afford this. Can you please help me?"

Those are but two examples out of the hundreds that my office has received that show the stark reality of what people are facing.

I pay tribute to the dentists and providers right across my constituency who have engaged with me on the issue. They have worked to ensure that they can support as many people as they can, but, frankly, they are now at breaking point. I have spoken to practice managers and providers who have maintained NHS dental places out of a sense of local loyalty and to provide continued care for the patients they have treated, in some cases for a generation, but, based on the support that they receive from the Department of Health, they can no longer do so to the service level required. I pay tribute to the lobby organisations for dentists in Northern Ireland, some of which are represented in the Public Gallery today. They provided me with stark figures. I will put into context the reduction in the number of NHS-registered patients in North Belfast. In 2022, the number of children registered stood at 17,000, but that figure has now fallen to 15,000. In 2022, there were 57,000 adults registered, but that figure has now fallen to 42,000. Almost 20,000 people in North Belfast have lost their NHS provision in the space of three years, and, over that period, North Belfast has seen the sixth-largest reduction out of the 18 Assembly constituencies. At a time when households are under significant financial pressure, more and more are being forced to put off essential treatment, because they cannot afford it. Access to healthcare should never depend on a person's ability to pay, yet too many in my constituency are being priced out of the very services on which they rely. We are now seeing the real consequences of consecutive Health Ministers — consecutive Health Ministers — growing inequality in providing for our dental practitioners. The situation therefore demands urgent attention and meaningful action to ensure that every family can access the care that they need. The ongoing decline of funded dental services in North Belfast is simply unacceptable and is having a negative impact on young people, working families and pensioners. For many working families, private dental care is not an option. They are therefore being abandoned by a system that should be there to support them. As one of the most socio-economically deprived constituencies anywhere in Northern Ireland, North Belfast has its unique challenges. People simply have neither the ability nor the funds to pay for their treatment. The figures produced by the organisations that represent dentists show that dentists are also at breaking point. I will read into the record some figures from the British Dental Association (BDA) survey. Some 71% of dentists who responded to its survey disagreed that they were fairly remunerated for their work. Job satisfaction for providers of dental care in Northern Ireland is the lowest of anywhere in the United Kingdom. Some 80% of those surveyed described themselves as being under extreme pressure and unable to help everyone whom they wanted to, and the financial pressures are building and building. We need to review the funding model for practices, particularly in areas such as North Belfast. The Minister promised he would do that by the end of March. We are now midway through April, so I hope that the Minister can provide some update on when the business case will be put together by his Department so that our providers can see light at the end of the tunnel. It is not simply an issue for the Minister of Health to address. I encourage him to put together a business case to ensure that there is a properly funded package for dental providers, and I will then go with him to the Minister of Finance and every other Executive colleague to tell them that they need to give him support for the review, because the situation is urgent. It is a crisis, and if we continue down the track that we are on, more people in North Belfast will be unable to access the care that they need. More people will have long-term illnesses because they have put off the treatment that they need. More young dentists and those who have been in the profession for years are going to move completely into private practice because they are not seeing light at the end of the tunnel. If the Minister is able to commit to putting together a business case for a review of the cost of services, I will be his biggest champion in trying to ensure that that funding is in place. Practitioners across North Belfast need to see that we have a Health Minister, Assembly and Executive who are committed to supporting them so that our constituents can receive dental practice support in their time of need. I urge the Minister to be positive, today, and to give the commitment that he will put together a business case to ensure that the funding is in place to allow our people across the constituency to get the dental services that they require. I promise that I will stand with you, Minister, to make the argument to get the funding that my constituents deserve.

1,280 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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