DEMANDS by a Bradford MP for changes to dentistry contracts in the district have received the backing of Bradford Council’s health chief.

Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, said the state of oral health in Bradford – among the worst in the region – could not wait for new NHS dentistry contracts to be rolled out in 2018, and needed immediate action.

Figures obtained by watchdog Healthwatch Bradford showed 40 per cent of adults and a third of children in the city do not have access to an NHS dentist.

The current NHS dentistry contract, which was introduced in 2006 has been deemed “not fit for purpose” by the British Dental Association.

Councillor Vanda Greenwood, chairman of the health scrutiny committee at Bradford Council, said she would “fully support” Mr Hussain’s campaign.

Pilot programmes have been taking place since 2011, with the new contracts planned for 2018, but Mr Hussain pledged to write to the Minister for Community Health and Care to ask him to expand the pilot programmes to Bradford. He is also asking for Bradford to be one of the ten ‘high needs’ areas selected next month to test NHS England’s new methods of improving children’s oral health.

Mr Hussain said: “There is a huge and growing problem with dentistry in Bradford. While there is no quick-fix solution, changes to the current system of NHS dental contracts to one that better rewards dentists for improving the oral health of patients would go a long way towards it, which is why Bradford needs changes to dentistry contracts now, not in 2018.

“The current system of dental care contracts have been in place now for over ten years, but since then the oral health needs of people in Bradford have changed substantially, leading to the current system being in desperate need of change.

“If we do not take action to tackle the growing crisis in dental healthcare in Bradford, it will only get worse.”

Councillor Greenwood said: “As we all know, the oral health of Bradford residents is poor, and we are quite low in comparison with other authorities around the country, particularly in under-fives.

“So, anything that can help improve oral health has my full backing, and the contracts should be brought forward. Under-fives in Bradford have some of the worst oral health records, but it has improved recently thanks to Public Health.

“I think poverty plays a big factor in this, as does a lack of NHS dentists which is a massive issue that appears to be getting worse and we need to work hard on.

“Also, a lack of education plays a big role, especially in the Eastern European communities which have quite bad oral health, where the language barrier also means they are not visiting the dentist.”

Victoria Simmons, from Healthwatch Bradford, said it was working with NHS England on the issue of a lack of NHS dentist places and appointments.

Healthwatch research found almost 90 per cent of people in Bradford with an NHS dentist were satisfied with their dental care.