Doctor and dentist shortage in Southend highlighted

Southend Healthwatch criticised shortage of doctors and dentists

A shortage of doctors and dentists has been highlighted by a health watchdog.

Healthwatch Southend said it was being approached by local people about access "almost every day".

A new plan to improve services is being drawn up for NHS primary healthcare services in the area where there is a £46.4m deficit.

"There are real issues at the current time," Healthwatch's chief officer, Owen Richards, told the city council's Health and Wellbeing Board.

"GP access needs to be updated. There is a reference in there around a plan to improve access to GPs, but there is a bit of gap in here for me on that because that is something local people talk to us about almost every day - access to services, general practice and dentistry."

'Unsustainable position'

The board was discussing the Mid and South Essex Joint Forward Plan, which has highlighted a number of serious problems within primary healthcare services.

Mr Richards was also concerned that digital devices were excluding some patients: "There is a lot of emphasis understandably about digital within the report that will help a lot of people - it will not help others.

"There is something in the language we use in the system about improving access, some of which could be through digital routes, but we almost seem to focus more on the solution rather than the issue that there are problems of access at the moment."

The council's director of public health, Krishna Ramkhelawon, said: "I think it's imperative to remind ourselves that the local NHS are in an unsustainable position financially and that is probably one of the driving forces in enabling us to do things differently.

"Progress will be in prevention and some of the key issues highlighted here are in conversation with colleagues in the NHS.

"Some of the broader work we are looking at driving in the background is looking at investment in hospital services and reviewing our service restriction policies and making sure it's doing what it should be doing within the resources it has."