A HOSPITAL trust has dismissed incorrect Labour figures claiming it had the most children on a dental care waiting list in the country last year.

The party has unveiled new research revealing what it labelled as a 'completely unacceptable' deterioration in child dental care.

Following Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to NHS trusts, Labour said there has been a 15 per cent increase over three years in the number of children on waiting lists for dental operations undertaken under general anaesthesia, along with a 52 per cent rise in the number of youngsters waiting longer than six months for treatment.

The party’s findings show Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had the most children, 3,534, on a waiting list in the country in 2017, with Solent NHS Trust second with 2,572.

It also claims the trust had 591 patients under 18 who waited longer than six months for dental treatment under general anaesthesia in 2017 – the second worst in the country, exceeded only by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust with 599.

And it claims youngsters waited an average of 80 days for treatment in the area in 2017.

However, the trust has dismissed the party's figures.

Chief operating officer Chris Evans said: "The figures presented by Labour in their press release on dental waiting times are not correct for Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

"It appears that the figures provided by us in their recent FoI have been misinterpreted.

"We provided a snapshot of children on the waiting list for each month for years 2017 and 2018, which overall was 266 for 2017 and the same in 2018.

"On further investigation of their total figures, we can ascertain that they have cumulated the month-end figures to create their final totals.

"Again, this appears to have happened in the numbers waiting longer than six months for treatment, which was 55 in 2017 and 40 in 2018, not the cumulative figures presented in their press release.

"The average wait for a child patient is 12-13 weeks, but it is important to note that our dental service is not treating patients for simple tooth decay extractions, but conditions relating to complex orthodontic treatments in a managed pathway."

Responding to Labour's findings across the country, shadow health and social care secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "It is completely unacceptable that vulnerable children are increasingly waiting for months in agony to have their teeth fixed.

"We've also heard horrific stories of people forced to resort to DIY dentistry kits in utter desperation.

"In the fifth richest nation in the world this is a damning indictment of Tory neglect of our health service.

"It's time we had an urgent review of the potential health issues around using these kits.

"Labour's ambition is to help our children become the healthiest in the world.

"That means investment to improve the oral health of every child and taking radical action like banning the advertising of junk food on family TV.

"A key test of any Government settlement for the NHS is whether the Tories follow Labour's lead and prioritise improving children's health and wellbeing."

Denise Mattin, clinical director of special care dental services at Solent NHS Trust, has joined Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in dismissing Labour’s figures.

She said: “The league of table that supposedly lists us, Solent NHS Trust, as having the second highest number of children on a dental care waiting list in the country is based on wrong information, which we are challenging.

“The figure of 2,572 being quoted as the number of children on our waiting list is actually the number of children we treated during 2016/17.

“The total number of children that waited over six months that year was 62 out of the 2,572 treated. The average waiting time for 16/17 was 10.4 weeks.

“This is the information we furnished in response to a FoI request, which was clearly misinterpreted.

“We will be approaching the source of the information too, asking them to review their data and make the necessary amendments.

“I would like to take this opportunity to emphasise that we are working with our local partners to do all we can to further reduce waiting times in our area. Any child in pain is prioritised.

“Lastly, it’s important that we all promote the prevention message – dental decay is an entirely preventable disease and is related to the frequency and amount of sugar intake in the diet.”