Labour has saved the NHS before. If elected on 4th July, we will do so again.

The Conservatives cannot be trusted with the NHS. Every time they are in government, they run our health service into the ground, dragging down standards and pushing up waiting times to record highs. As the graph below shows, this is truer in 2024 than ever before, despite the hard work of NHS staff. 

I have held the Government to account about the decline of the NHS on numerous occasions, most recently in a question to the Prime Minister regarding the crumbling state of our local hospital, Stepping Hill.  

NHS dentistry has fallen into a state of acute crisis. Under the Conservatives, the number of people unable to get an appointment with an NHS dentist rose to a shocking 12 million people - more than one in four adults in England. It is simply shocking that the most common reason for children aged five to nine to be admitted to hospital is to have rotting teeth removed. 

The decline of NHS dentistry is having dire consequences for Stockport residents, increasing numbers of whom have contacted me over the past four years because they cannot get the dental care they need. When I wrote to all dental practices in Stockport constituency offering NHS services with a survey about the crisis in NHS dentistry, several respondents described the dire consequences of this lack of access, such as rising numbers of people performing dangerous ‘DiY’ dentistry out of desperation. I have raised these issues in the House of Commons persistently, calling for urgent resources and vital reforms to end the postcode lottery which now determines access to NHS dental care. 

But although they are severe, the problems facing NHS dentistry are not insurmountable. Labour has saved the NHS before, and if elected to government on 4th July, we will do so again. 

Labour has a plan to tackle the immediate crisis in NHS dentistry by providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruiting new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, Labour will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focusing on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. Labour will also introduce a supervised toothbrushing scheme for 3- to 5-year-olds, targeting the areas of highest need. 

This plan is fully-costed, being funded by closing further non-dom tax loopholes and investment in reducing tax avoidance.

It’s time to stop the rot. The only way to save NHS dentistry is to vote for change with Labour on Thursday 4th July.