A Green councillor in Bath has firmly rejected claims that she used her political position to obtain priority access to an NHS dentist. Joanna Wright, who leads the Green group on Bath and North East Somerset Council and represents the Lambridge ward, addressed these accusations following a council debate on local dental services.
During the meeting, Ms Wright explained that she and her family were removed from their NHS dentist list during the Covid-19 pandemic, after being unable to secure appointments for nearly two years. After lodging a complaint and identifying herself as a councillor, she said she and her family were reinstated with an NHS dentist.
This revelation led the council’s Liberal Democrat group to accuse her of “jumping the queue” by “name-dropping” her political role to gain preferential access. A video excerpt of her remarks shared by the Liberal Democrats on Facebook has attracted significant attention, amassing 65,000 views.
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Ms Wright, however, asserts that her intention was not to leverage her position for personal advantage, but to shed light on the broader issue of unfair treatment faced by many patients seeking NHS dental care. “I was trying to point out how unfairly they were treating not only me but other patients,” she said.
The controversy arose during a full council meeting on July 16, where the Green group introduced a motion urging the government to reform the NHS dental system. Bath and North East Somerset has been identified as a “dental desert,” due to a shortage of NHS dentists accepting new patients. The motion, which received unanimous support and was seconded by the Liberal Democrats, called for urgent reforms.
Ms Wright recounted her personal experience in the debate, stating: “I complained about this and was told there was no way to get back on to that NHS dentist roll. I then declared I was a councillor, and strangely, they put me and all of my family back on to being NHS dentist patients. It is the only time it has been useful to be a councillor. It has probably saved me and my family a huge amount of money.”
Following the meeting, Liberal Democrat council leader Kevin Guy commented: “I was surprised to hear councillor Wright say in full council that the only time it was useful to be a councillor was when she managed to get herself and her family on an NHS closed dentist’s list by mentioning her elected member role. As she acknowledged, this saved her and her family a significant amount of money.”
He also emphasised the importance of expanding NHS dental provision in the area and noted that he believed Ms Wright had no intention of abusing her status.
In response, Ms Wright clarified to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she did not exploit her role for access but used it to highlight systemic issues. She explained that during Covid, dentists removed patients who had been unable to attend appointments for over two years, which she argued unfairly disadvantaged many.
“I wrote to my NHS dentist and complained as a councillor that this was unfair and took advantage of people who, through no fault of their own, lost access to an NHS dentist,” she said. “The dentist seemed to recognise my councillor status and reinstated me on the NHS dental system. I was not in a queue, just removed because of Covid restrictions.”
Ms Wright expressed disappointment that the Liberal Democrats focused on this aspect of her speech rather than on the broader problem with the Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) system, which she says is undermining NHS dental services.
She was originally elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor in 2019 but left the party in 2021 to become Bath and North East Somerset Council’s only Green councillor. She was re-elected as a Green at the 2023 local elections, now leading a three-member Green group on the council.