Dear Editor,
The advertisement feature published on 11 September outlining Sam Rushworth MP’s priorities rightly drew attention to the serious shortage of NHS dentistry across Bishop Auckland, Shildon and West Auckland.
Any attention given to this crisis is welcome. However, residents need more than national appointment figures and general promises. They need to know where they can actually obtain treatment, how many additional appointments will be provided locally and when routine NHS dental care will again become available.
The roots of the present crisis go back to the NHS dental contract introduced by the Labour Government in 2006. It created the system of Units of Dental Activity, commonly known as UDAs. This system has been heavily criticised for failing to reflect the cost and complexity of treatment and for making NHS work financially unattractive to many practices.
Twenty years later, the consequences are visible throughout County Durham. Practices have reduced or withdrawn NHS provision, residents struggle to find anyone accepting new NHS patients and emergency treatment is too often substituted for continuing care.
This is not a new issue for Bishop Auckland. In July 2025, I formally raised the lack of local NHS dental access through Durham County Council’s Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The matter was subsequently referred through Member Services to Public Health, and by September it had been confirmed for consideration with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
When I attempted to obtain dental care myself, the nearest option offered was Birmingham, with £70 required upfront. Other residents reported similarly unreasonable journeys or simply going without treatment.
On 17 November 2025, the Scrutiny Committee received an NHS Dentistry Update from Pauline Fletcher, the ICB’s Strategic Head of Dental Contracting, and Tom Robinson, its Dental Clinical Lead. I asked where Bishop Auckland residents could obtain NHS appointments, which practices had capacity and what commissioning action could be taken.
Written follow-ups on 27 and 28 November asked for a clear and printable list of available services, options including flexible commissioning and UDA incentives, additional emergency capacity, a delivery timetable and consideration of a dedicated Bishop Auckland dental-access hub. In February 2026, I again reported continuing complaints while awaiting meaningful local progress.
I have also asked the ICB and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust to examine whether Bishop Auckland Hospital could host a substantial urgent and community dental service for south and west County Durham. This could combine urgent treatment, community dentistry, supervised training placements and salaried or Foundation Year dentists in existing NHS facilities.
The solution requires action at both national and local levels.
Nationally, the 2006 contract must be fundamentally reformed or replaced with a system that properly rewards prevention, continuing care, treatment complexity and work in areas with the greatest shortages.
Locally, the ICB should publish clear information showing which practices have genuine NHS capacity, reinvest dental underspends in County Durham, use targeted commissioning incentives and establish additional treatment capacity in Bishop Auckland.
The September advertisement says Sam Rushworth is pressing for more Foundation Year dentists in local practices. That would be useful, but residents deserve measurable commitments: how many dentists, in which practices and by what date?
There is also a straightforward question for our MP. Does he support fundamental replacement of the UDA system introduced in 2006, and will he press the Government for a clear timetable for reform?
This should not become a contest over who first raised the issue. The objective must be to restore accessible NHS dental care. Residents have waited long enough for general assurances. They now need locations, numbers, dates and delivery.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Tom Redmond, Bishop Auckland Division
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
