High Peak MP Robert Largan writes about NHS dentistry in his latest column, following the news that Goyt Valley Dental Practice in Whaley Bridge is going private.

Lots of people have been in touch with me over recent days about the news that Goyt Valley Dental Practice are going private.

Understandably, lots of people are concerned and upset by this announcement. Sadly, this isn’t the only local dentist to make such an announcement in recent weeks. Bamford Dental Practice made a similar decision earlier this year.

In my discussions with Goyt Valley Dental Practice, I understand that this is largely driven by their failure to recruit a new NHS dentist, despite trying for over 12 months.

This is the result of serious structural failures – something I have been raising in Parliament for some time now.

Back in February, I spoke in Parliament on NHS Dentistry and wrote an article for this newspaper on how we can improve access to dental care.

A big part of the problem is that there are simply not enough dentists. We need a serious drive to improve both the recruitment and the retention of dentists. Thinking about the long-term, the government are sensibly setting up new centres of dental development to train more dentists, focused on areas where there are shortages. But in the short-term we need to look again at the recognition of overseas dental qualifications, to allow high quality dentists from other countries to come to the UK and help increase capacity.

I know that many dentists also have serious concerns about the NHS contracts drawn up in 2008 under the last Labour Government. Under the terms of these contracts, there is little incentive to take on new NHS patients. Contract renegotiation is complex and time consuming, but this urgently needs fixing.

Finally, there needs to be a much greater focus on preventive healthcare, and dentistry should be at the frontline of that effort. Dentistry is too often largely divorced from the rest of the NHS. For this reason, I have called for NHS dentists to be properly represented in the governance of the new integrated care boards, so that we can have a more thoughtful, joined-up approach to public health.

In terms of the immediate situation at Goyt Valley Dental Practice, I have already written to both NHS England and the Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, urging them to try and safeguard NHS dentistry for children in particular.

Chapel Dental Care have some limited availability for patients but there won’t be enough capacity for everyone at Goyt Valley, so I'd suggest getting in touch with them as quickly as possible.

Clearly, more remains to be done. I will keep working with local dentists, the NHS, and making the case for urgent reform in Parliament.

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