The dental crisis facing the Omagh council area

THE Health Minister has acknowledged the ‘historically lower’ number of adults in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area who are registered with a dentist.

The British Dental Association Northern Ireland recently revealed only 35% of people over the age of 18 in the local council area are signed up with a dentist. This is the lowest rate of any council region in the North.

Part of the problem, according to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, is that some dentists are reducing their National Health Service (NHS) work in favour of private services.

As a result, Mr Nesbitt said, many NHS patients’ registrations have lapsed and they have not been able to re-register with another dentist.

He was responding to a question at the Northern Ireland Assembly from West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan on what steps the Department of Health were taking to increase the low adult registration rate with a dentist in the Fermanagh and Omagh council area.

In response, Mr Nesbitt said General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) were reducing their NHS commitment and switching to private care and independent insurance plans.

“As a result, patient’s registrations are lapsing and many of those patients have not been able to either re-register with the same dentist or register with another dentist.

“This is an issue across Northern Ireland; however, I am also aware that some areas of the country have historically lower registration and treatment rates – particularly in the West, including the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area.

“This is at least partly due to geography; areas with a low population density will have a lower density of practices.”

The Health Minister said it was ‘important to remember’ that GDPs are ‘self-employed, independent contractors who are free to choose the amount of HS care they provide’.

“Nor does the Department have a role in deciding the location of new practices as this is a business decision made by practice owners.

“For many months now, the Department has been attempting to address the trend in registrations and access with targeted investments to increase both the attractiveness of HS dental provision, and access for patients.

“For 2024/25 a £9.2m investment package supported access to General Dental Services, including: £1m for newly registered child patients through the reestablishment of the Enhanced Child Examination Scheme; £4.3m to fund a 30% enhancement to fees paid to dentists for priority treatments; and £3.9m for the treatment of high priority unregistered patients through a Dental Access Scheme.

“To assist with the increase to National Insurance contributions, £2.5million has been made available for General Dental Services.”

Mr Nesbitt said he recently announced a further £7m investment for 2025/26 to continue supporting the industry ‘until reform can be progressed’.

He added: “As for the particular issues in Fermanagh and Omagh, the challenges in Dental Services, and other HSC services, in rural areas like Fermanagh are not limited to Health alone.

“The same challenges are evident in education, economy and infrastructure both built and otherwise. In this matter, improving health outcomes is not the sole purview of the Department of Health.

“Addressing rural challenges will require the full weight of the Northern Ireland Executive to address.”