Almost 1,000 dentists retiring early exposes SNP decay

Liberal Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson Susan Murray has said Scotland deserves better than SNP decay, as research by her party showed almost 1,000 dentists have retired early since 2015.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request found that of the 999 dentists who have retired since 2015, 946 did so before their state retirement age. This means that over the past decade, 94.7% of all retiring dentists have taken their retirement early.

The party recently revealed that 4 in 10 Scots who are registered with a dentist have not seen one for the past two years.

Susan Murray said:

“Dentists are rushing for the door because countless SNP health secretaries have failed to properly support them.

“Under the SNP, many Scots can’t find an NHS dentist for miles. Those cavities in care are causing agony for patients, who are forking out for treatment abroad, or buying tools off Amazon to do the job themselves.

“As the party that was instrumental in introducing free dental checkups, Scottish Liberal Democrats have a long history of delivering for NHS dentistry. We pressed for a dental school to address the shortage of dentists in remote and rural areas and we secured money this year to increase dentist training places.

“Patients and staff all deserve better than almost two decades of SNP decay. Scottish Liberal Democrats have a realistic plan to deliver the change they need with fairness at its heart. That includes ending dental deserts, prioritising workforce planning and boosting the number of dentists taking on NHS patients.”