Meg urges more Hackney residents to sign up to a dentist

Meg Hillier, Labour and Co-operative Parliamentary candidate for Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency, has raised concerns about the impact of low registration with dentists in Hackney.

‘In Hackney people are not registering with dentists – and there is not a shortage of NHS dentists available.

‘I am delighted that the local primary care trust is working with dentists locally to get more children registered. Good habits started young will ensure better health for the next generation.’

Less than one third of Hackney residents are registered with an NHS dentist according to recent figures.

Just over 61,000 people are registered with a dentist in Hackney out of a total population in the borough of 202,000.

Meg met recently with primary care trust chief executive Laura Sharpe to discuss her concerns. The trust has distributed £250,000 to local dental surgeries to help them improve access and choice for patients.

Meg also welcomed Government moves to increase the emphasis on all round dental health through the new personal dental service contract.

‘I am delighted that eight local practices are looking to offer this service which focuses on wider preventative dental health rather than just fixing problems,’ Meg said.

Figures from City and Hackney Primary show that just 61,000 patients are registered with dentists in Hackney (figures from September 2004). Of these 14,244 are children and 46,759 are adults.

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For further information, please contact Ian Rathbone 07890 654 068 or e-mail ian.rathbone@tiscali.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Figures from the primary care trust show that patient registrations with NHS dentists were: 65,478 in March 2003 and 61, 875, the most recent figure. Since September 2004 numbers have risen by 277 and the downward trend is reversing.

According to the last census, Hackney’s population increased by 11.96 per cent from 181,164 in 1991 to 202,824 in 2001, reflecting a density of 106.4 people per hectare, the third densest region within London and the UK.

The census also revealed that Hackney has the second highest number of 0-4 year olds in Greater London (8.26 per cent) with Newham’s 8.53 per cent being the largest of
this age range. Those aged between 30 to 44 years represented the largest population group in Hackney, 27.46 per cent of the borough’s total population.

Printed and promoted by James Cannon, on behalf of Meg Hillier, all at 88 Buckingham Road, Hackney, London N1 4JE