A foster carer who lives near Wellington said she had 'no other choice' than to drive to Bristol for children's dental appointments due to problems finding NHS care.

Emma Lloyd told ITV West Country: “I've got a child that I take to Bristol for his dentistry, which is not acceptable because it means taking him out of school for a whole day. 

“I've got another child that I used to have to take to Devon. That was the nearest place I could find. Another one - Bridgwater.

“The last girl I had with me, I had to leave registered with her Williton practice. So we were having to drive over an hour up to Williton just for a dental checkup because there's just nothing locally for us.”

Last month the MP for Taunton Deane who represents Wellington, Rebecca Pow, met with Health Minister Maria Caulfield to highlight the difficulties many residents are facing accessing dental care.

Ms Pow said: “I have been contacted by many residents who are unable to access an NHS dentist. I appreciate that dental services have been impacted by the pandemic, however, I made it clear to the Minister that this situation needs to be improved.

“I welcome the £50 million of extra funding that Government has recently announced across England to support 350,000 additional dental appointments, with £4.7 million being allocated to the South-West region."

Gideon Amos, the prospective MP for Taunton Deane told ITV: “It's a key part of health. People now are presenting at A&E because they haven't had serious mouth issues detected at the dentist.  People are resorting to DIY dentistry, which none of us want to do. or want to consider doing - incredibly painful. 

“People are going to extreme measures now and we have to look for a new solution for NHS dentistry and the government just isn't delivering."

The Wellington Weekly inquired with a number of dentists in the area about availability. Of the several dentists asked, none was taking on new NHS patients, reporting they were at 'full capacity.' However, most of the dentists were willing to take on private patients.