Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 28 March 2023.
Thank you. Llandeilo, Haverfordwest, Fishguard—examples of dental practices in my area where NHS provision has come to an end over recent months. The dental situation in rural Wales is critical at the moment, and the change to contracts recently has caused real concern, as was expressed to me in recent correspondence from the Dyfed Powys dental committee. Even dentists who succeed in meeting the requirements of the new contracts have noted that they're doing so at the expense of treating their current patients, and these changes are causing real stress, which means that many dentists are now considering their future as NHS partners. In Powys alone, over 4,500 are on the waiting list for NHS dentists—10 per cent of those are children—and more and more families are facing difficult decisions, with many travelling abroad for dental treatment.