Formal complaints about Devon NHS dentistry services are at a five-year-high as minister slams UK’s dental care as “truly Dickensian”

Access to services, attitude and behaviour, quality of care and lack of NHS dental provisions were among the top complaints made about Devon’s dentistry services in the last year

Devon NHS dentistry services has seen a stark rise in complaints lodged against them in the last five years, with the figure now the highest it has been in five years, a new investigation has revealed.

Lodging complaints about dental care in England can be challenging.

Fresh data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist via Freedom of Information Requests, has revealed that the number of grievances regarding dentistry care within Devon’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) have increased by 49 per cent since 2019.

It comes as the UK’s dentistry minister, Stephen Kinnock recently slammed the state of NHS dentistry as “truly Dickensian.”

Writing in the Mirror, Mr Kinnock said: “For years, NHS dentistry has been neglected to the point of rot, with too many patients unable to get an appointment.”

There are a number of ways to complain which include; contacting the practice directly, contacting NHS England - who are responsible for commissioning NHS dental services or contacting the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) who makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about NHS England.

Between 2019 and 2024, NHS England has logged 169 formal complaints regarding dentistry services in Devon.

According to the Devon ICB, it received 55 official complaints between July 2023 and March 2024 - with 28 of those pertaining to the lack of NHS dental provision.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust had a total of seven claims and incidents of dentistry medical negligence reported to NHS Resolution between 2019 and 2024, none of which resulted in compensation settlements.