The Dental Taskforce set up by the Plymouth Labour-run council immediately after they took control of the city has held its first meeting.

Working to alleviate the problems in dentistry in the city was a key Plymouth Labour pledge in the local election campaign.

MPs Luke Pollard and Johnny Mercer as well as a representative from Gary Streeter’s office attended on Friday as did Livewell, the Integrated Care Board, the council’s Public Health team, Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise and the Local Dental Network.

“This is something Plymouth Labour and Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard have been campaigning on for some time,” said Cllr Mary Aspinall, who is the Plymouth Labour cabinet member for Health and Adult Social Care, and set up the taskforce within days of taking up her new role. 

“It was really good to get everyone in the room and around the table to see what we can do to tackle this problem.

“It was shocking once again to hear the scale of the problem here in Plymouth with more than 21,000 people in our city on the dental waiting list and hundreds of children every year having teeth removed under general anaesthetic.”

Cllr Aspinall said it had been a “positive” meeting.

“There were positive conversations and it was agreed that all organisations will work together to improve NHS provision in the city.

“It’s vital that we do work together to achieve results for our residents of all ages who are really suffering thanks to the lack of available dental care.”