NHS Dentistry in crisis: Half of adults and one third of children in Greater Manchester go two years without an appointment.

Shocking figures uncovered by Oldham Liberal Democrats show that 50% of adults across Greater Manchester go two years without a dentist appointment on the NHS.  For children, the figures for those going without care stands at over one third.   

The news follows concerns raised by Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE over the number of dentists who are walking away from the NHS. 

Councillor Sykes said, “Under the Conservative government, local healthcare has all but collapsed.  People cannot get a dentist appointment for love nor money.  It’s hardly surprising given hundreds of dentists are leaving the NHS.”

According to NHS advice, children should receive a dental check-up every 6 months due to the fact that tooth decay can be more rapid during early years.  But more than one third of Children across Oldham and Greater Manchester are waiting more than a year to be seen.  

Councillor Sykes said, “This is extremely worrying for parents.  Faced with the prospect of a seemingly endless wait for treatment on the NHS, more and more families are at risk of having to pay out privately.”

“NHS dentistry needs a rescue package from the government.  Budgets have gone unspent in recent years when that money could have gone into boosting the number of available appointments.”

“The government could take steps right away by cutting VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Instead, we just have silence and inaction.”     

Data on appointments compiled by the House of Commons Library:
Dental patients seen.xlsx – Google Sheets

More from councillor Sykes on NHS dentistry:
NHS Dentist staffing crisis as almost 1,000 walk away across England last year – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

At ANDYSMANCLUB, we want to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and create a judgment-free, confidential space where men can be open about the storms in their lives. We aim to achieve this through weekly, free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups for men aged over 18.

https://andysmanclub.co.uk/who-we-are/

Friends of Crompton Moor have worked on the restoration of the Brushes Clough spoil heaps for the past 2 Saturday mornings, and would like to thank all the volunteers involved for their extremely good work.  

They must have taken out around a hundred or so of the birch, and these trees have been used to build small mammal shelters ready for the coming winter.

They would very much like to take out more trees from the Spoil Heaps.. 

They have made some great progress in opening a dense area of birch which was shading out the Heather, Bilberry, mosses, and lichens.   If we can expand this area a little more, the sunlight will get through, and come spring next year we should be able to see new shoots of the vegetation that’s so important in this area.

If you have an hour or two to spare, come and join us, We’ll be in Brushes Clough car park for a 10:30am start.

You will be aware that Travellers entered High Crompton Park earlier this week.

They now have gone; our priorities are now to reinstate the land back to how it was and carry out repairs to the gate near The North Star car park – We will be looking at getting a more secure gate such as the one at New Barn Playing Fields which was funded some time ago by Liberal Democrat Councillors using ward funds. (see picture).

In addition, we will be looking at other Council owned facilities in High Crompton, Shaw and Royton where travellers could enter with a view to securing them too.

Oldham Council Officers attended earlier this week and your Crompton Cllrs Diane Williamson, Louie Hamblett and Dave Murphy will be working with them to get the park looking as it should.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who reported the issue to councillors, Oldham Council and the Police.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund goes silent on calls to divest

Local Lib Dem Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani has written to Greater Manchester Pension Fund chief executive Steve Pleasant demanding answers after the Pension Fund failed to reply for five months to an Oldham Council motion calling for them to stop investing in fossil fuel companies.

Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “I consider it extremely poor that the Pension Fund has failed to respond to the Council – who are part of the management of the organisation, for nearly half a year.

“It’s pretty telling about what their priorities are that while we are trying to ensure they invest wisely both for the pension fund members and for the environment, they have failed to reply.”

The motion also called on the Pension Fund to provide a report on what they were doing to ensure that their current investments were used to change the behaviour of fossil fuel companies, as this was the Fund’s stated reason for not removing their investment immediately.

“I don’t agree with their reasons for choosing not to divest. However, they need to be able to demonstrate that they are doing what they say they are, and failing to provide even an acknowledgement after five months is not acceptable.”

https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace

 #WorldAlzheimersDay

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/world-alzheimers-day

🗓 Date: Sunday 24th September 2023🕙 Time: 4pm to 6pm📍 Location: European Islamic Centre, 79 Manchester Rd, Oldham, OL8 4LN

4:00 pm – Welcome and Refreshments 
4.30 pm – An Introduction to Islam and The Final Messenger  
5.00 pm – Guided Tour 
5.45 pm – Observe Congregational Prayer

Registration link: www.bit.ly/eic-vmm

Oldham roads and pavements budget slashed by almost 25% since 2020

New figures revealed by Oldham Liberal Democrats show that budgets for road and pavement improvement works have been slashed by almost 25% in just three years. 

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said the findings were “a damning reflection on Oldham Council and it’s Labour administration.”

The figures, which were uncovered by a Freedom of Information request made by the Liberal Democrats, show that the overall highways budget fell from just under £7.9m in the year 2020/21, to just over £5.9m in 2022/23. 

Councillor Sykes said, “When I speak to the people I represent, the state of the roads and footpaths is always one of the top concerns.  But capital budgets, which are the monies used for road resurfacing and other long-term repair projects, have fallen steadily over the last few years.  Time and again, council bosses are ignoring the basics and people are sick of it.”

The Liberal Democrat Leader called on council chiefs to “revisit their budget priorities” to avoid deeper costs further down the line. 

Councillor Sykes said, “If the council doesn’t get itself into gear and start funding our roads, pavements and cycle routes properly, the costs will be bigger in the long run.  Whether it is because the council has to pay out in damages or because more costly repairs are needed, the result is the same.  The deeper the potholes get, the deeper the cost to the public.”

NOTES

FOI response on highways capital expenditure provided to the Liberal Democrats

Note: the reduction in capital expenditure from 2020/21 to 2022/23 is 23.9%
“In response to your request for environmental information regarding expenditure on highways and pavements, Oldham Council is happy to supply the following figures for each of the years requested:”

	Revenue	Capital
2019/20	£2,154,321.27	£6,541,928.67
2020/21	£1,528,528.80	£7,867,871.71
2021/22	£1,975,967.78	£6,931,820.53
2022/23	£2,431,467.43	£5,985,217.16
2023/24	£2,304,910.00	£3,965,387.31