The Conservative MP for Southend West Anna Firth has urged the health minister Andrea Leadsom to meet her, Mid and South Essex integrated care board and a local pharmacist to encourage the ICB to commission a dental service he wants to start in a part of town that has no NHS dentist.

Mohamed Fayyaz Haji, who runs Belfairs Pharmacy in Leigh-on-Sea, has expanded his services to include phlebotomy and dermatology and recently acquired further premises to provide a dental service.

Firth (pictured), who is campaigning on Haji’s behalf to persuade the Mid and South Essex ICB to commission the new dental practice from the premises, used a Commons debate last week to call on Leadsom to discuss the issue with her. Firth said Haji has “premises secured and dentists lined up” with the “potential to provide around 7,000 units of dental activity.”

"I called on the minister to meet with us all to see the brilliant work being done at Belfairs pharmacy and to find a way through the current commissioning impasse," Firth said. "The minister agreed to meet with me and I intend to follow up and push the commissioning of this new dental service through as a matter of urgency.

"The provision of NHS dentistry is of great concern to Southend residents, and I am determined to do all I can to increase provision across our city."

Firth said Haji “is already doing fantastic work for our city and his proposals for a new NHS dental practice in Belfairs are fantastic news.” She insisted she will do all she can “to ensure this new practice is commissioned as soon as possible.”

Haji told the Southend Echo: “This is a fantastic opportunity to improve NHS dental provision for Southend residents. We are ready to go and just need the go ahead from the local NHS. I am hugely grateful for Ms Firth’s support in pushing this new practice forward so we can start treating people as soon as possible.”

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