Thousands of British children ‘in distress’ awaiting NHS dental care

English children have had to endure years of “agony” just to get the most basic dental care because of serious flaws in the entire publicly funded British healthcare system, the National Health Service (NHS).

According to information obtained under freedom of information laws and examined by the British publication, The Guardian reported on Wednesday that children in some areas of England were waiting an average of 18 months for dental procedures under general anesthesia, primarily tooth extractions. For some children, getting the necessary dental care has taken years of waiting.

The British Dental Association’s chairman cited the UK Conservative government’s “indifference” toward the large number of children who needed dental care due to tooth pain as the cause.

According to Eddie Crouch, who was quoted by The Guardian, “Children are waiting in agony thanks to the indifference successive governments have shown to dentistry.”

Because “prevention” has merely been a trendy word, year-long backlogs exist before COVID. This situation is ideal. Dentists struggle for theater space when extractions are the only solution and are failing in their efforts to prevent these issues from developing in the first place, he claimed.

According to Crouch, UK government ministers must take appropriate action to address the problem as soon as possible.

“A reform strategy has been presented to ministers. They must use it, he insisted, according to moral obligation.

Daisy Cooper, the St. Albans-based Liberal Democrat MP and Health and Social Care spokesperson, called the situation facing British children “heartbreaking.”

“It is heartbreaking to consider that some kids are kept in agonizing waiting periods while they wait months or even years for the specialized dental care they require. She insisted that every child should have access to the dental care they require.

The MP declared that “the government must act immediately to address this dental crisis, including tackling staff shortages and reforming the broken system that has driven dentists away from offering NHS appointments.”

In related news, NHS England’s National Medical Director Sir Stephen Powis stated on Wednesday that a two-day strike by NHS consultants over pay will “shut down” the delivery of healthcare in England.

When consultants stage their first strike in a decade, NHS England will be “virtually at a standstill” on Thursday and Friday, according to the head of the organization.

“The most severe impact we have ever seen in the NHS as a result of industrial action,” Powis said of the two-day pay strike.”

Unless the government improves its offer of a 6% pay increase, the strikes will hold what they have indicated and will be the start of a rolling series of stoppages.

The strike by NHS consultants came as the NHS worked to recover from a five-day strike by junior doctors that lasted from last Thursday until today.

In what has been called the longest single-doctor walkout in the National Health Service of the country, tens of thousands of junior doctors from across England went on strike because they were dissatisfied with their pay and working conditions.

The fourth strike by doctors this year was called after lengthy negotiations between the UK Government and the union that represents doctors ended in failure.