Ministers call for legal minimum NHS staff levels in Wales
Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru's shadow health secretary, proposed a bill to establish a minimum baseline of dentistry staff across Wales based on population need.
The bill would introduce a duty for health boards to calculate and take all reasonable steps to maintain dentistry staff levels, according to the motion debated on April 30.
Mr ap Gwynfor warned NHS Wales dentistry services are 'staring down the barrel' of an existential crisis 'and without urgent action it's unlikely to survive for much longer'.
He pointed to a near-40 per cent reduction in dentistry work within the NHS over the past decade.
Mr ap Gwynfor warned so-called dental deserts are 'spreading at an alarming pace', with access to NHS treatment becoming a scarce luxury.
'Desperate times demand a willingness to consider radical alternatives,' he said.
Llŷr Gruffydd told the Senedd that six dental practices in his North Wales region have handed back their NHS contracts over the past six months.
'I'm afraid that the trend shows no sign of abating,' he said, expressing concerns about Rhos dental practice, near Wrexham, introducing a £230-a-year preventative service.
Mr Gruffydd claimed: 'So, once again, this Labour government's actions are actually pushing more people into having to pay for basic dental care even within an NHS practice.'
Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds supported the motion which would seek to emulate the Nurse Staffing Levels Act 2016 introduced by her predecessor Kirsty Williams.
Jeremy Miles, Wales' health secretary, pointed out that most dentists are commissioned via private businesses rather than employed by health boards as with nurses.
Recognising the challenges facing NHS dentistry in Wales and across the UK, he argued: 'To improve NHS dentistry and to improve access … we must deliver a new general dental services contract. This, in fact, is the single most important thing that we can do.'
Mr Miles said proposed reforms would bring NHS dental services into the 21st century.
Senedd members voted 28-2 in favour of the motion, with 17 abstentions but the proposal is unlikely to proceed without Labour ministers' support.
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