Rutlanders are at their 'wits' end' waiting for improvements to dental services and deserve better, the boss of a health watchdog group has said.

Dr Janet Underwood, chairperson of Healthwatch Rutland, took bosses from the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board to task at Tuesday's (Jan 14) health and wellbeing board meeting, held at Rutland County Council offices in Oakham.

When a suggestion was made to put back discussion of the ICB's dental health plan until the summer, Dr Underwood disagreed and said those responsible for commissioning dental services in Rutland – needed to be held to account.

She told the health and wellbeing board chairperson Coun Diane Ellison (Lib Dem): "It's not me personally I am talking for. I am talking for the people of Rutland who we represent and they are absolutely at their wits' end. I follow the conversations on social media and this week there was a lady who is going to be charged and was asking for advice because she could not afford £340 to have a tooth taken out privately. 

"Most weeks these problems are occurring. I really feel we are accountable to the Rutland population. We should not say 'well it is an ongoing problem, there is nothing we can do about it'. We should keep applying the pressure.

"I just feel the Ruland people deserve better than they are getting at the moment."

The LLR ICB has been in charge of commissioning dental services for the area since April 2022, but has been struggling to recruit dentists to run practices despite new incentives. The issue has meant that many people living in the county are having to do without treatment or pay privately to access services. 

At the health and wellbeing board in October, the consultant employed by the ICB to conduct an oral health needs assessment for the area admitted some of the data, particularly around hospital extractions, was unreliable. At that meeting the ICB's deputy chief operating officer Debra Mitchell had agreed to look at the data issue. Yesterday she said a suggested development session with health care partners involved in dental care had not been arranged yet and said that was unlikely it would happen before April, as requested by Dr Underwood.

Director of public health Mike Sandys said: "We do need to hold feet to the fire, but what progress is there? There is no point bringing them back just to hear them talk about the state of Leicester city's oral health."

The chairperson made the decision to have a quick update at the April meeting.

The dental access topic has been discussed at various political meetings for several months, without seemingly any change. Before Christmas the leader of Rutland County Council Gale Waller (Lib Dem) agreed to write to the health secretary to highlight Rutland's problem.