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Launton WI reporting for May 2024
Our meeting centred on the subject of “Dental Health Matters”, and if we should vote for this issue to be adopted as a Resolution by the WI Federation, who would then develop a campaign to influence change in the coming year. Other successful campaigns have focused on Equal Pay, Domestic Violence, Climate Change, Clean Rivers, to name but a few. With 180,000 members, the WI forms a powerful voice to ensure that community issues are heard.
So for those of you unaware of just how dire the state of our dental services are, here’s some facts for you to get your remaining teeth into.
12 million adults cannot find a NHS dentist
2 in 5 kids have not seen a dentist this year
Rural areas struggle to find dentists and there are insufficient practitioners, with a drop of 14% in new trainees.
We have 4.3 dentists per 10,000 people.
83,000 A&E visits were dental related, with added pressure on hospitals.
To quote Pam Ayres, ‘I wish I’d looked after me teeth’. Sadly, Pam there is no one other than you to look after them!
We can act as a catalyst for change. There is action that can be taken to ameliorate the situation.
Paying practitioners a decent contract rate for NHSwork may be a start.
Recruiting overseas staff.
Investment in Mobile Dental services for rural areas.
Clawing back unspent treasury funds already allocated, although that might be the same as finding a quid down the back of the sofa, one can but hope!
Bringing this national tragedy to a wider audience may help in putting pressure on Governments to look after the nation’s health and not let it slide into privatisation which ignores the needs of so many.
So if you ever wondered what the WI does, it’s not all Jam and Jerusalem. It’s a living, breathing, campaigning, democratic organisation that works tirelessly away across the length and breadth of this green and promised land, to right the wrongs and injustices that we all have to deal with on a daily basis. Come along and join us!
Angela Stack
