Written evidence submitted by Mr Murray.

This submission will cover one particular area that I, and many service families I speak to, believe the Covenant should be extended to cover more robustly. It pertains to the accessibility of NHS dental care, and relates closely to the Fixing NHS Dentistry Inquiry being held by Health and Social Care Committee.

Given the transient nature of many service families, access to NHS dentists is practically impossible for most. While it’s well understood that many people in the UK are struggling to access NHS dentists, if they remain in one place they can join a waiting list for a practice and eventually become an NHS patient. Service families, on the other hand, often move too frequently to remain on a waiting list for long enough to get an NHS dentist to see them.

In my experience, we managed to eventually get my family onto the patient register at a practice in 2021, but since then I have changed roles/locations twice. While we join the waiting lists in each new location, to ensure my children are seen every 6 months we have maintained our place on the original practice’s patient list. Which means we have to drive the entire family across the country every 6 months for their check-ups. I know many service personnel who end up doing this, taking leave from work/absences from school in order to keep their children’s dental check-ups. I also know many families who just haven’t seen a dentist in many years.

I don’t know what the solution is exactly, as I know the current NHS dentistry contracts don’t encourage dentists to take any more NHS patients. But something needs to change as this is just another nail in the coffin of “The Offer” which is diminishing for service personnel and their families.

24th January 2025