Some dental practices are scrapping their entire lists of NHS patients as they move to become fully private. Bristol North West MP Darren Jones raised the alarm in Parliament last week where he highlighted that not only are many dentists not taking on new patients, but some are removing existing NHS patients from their books altogether.
He said the "crisis in NHS dentistry continues to worsen" and a surgery in his constituency had "removed its entire NHS list to become fully private". The British Dental Association (BDA) has described the situation as a “national crisis, hitting millions of patients” and said in the South West region, 75 per cent of dentists have committed to reduce, or further reduce, the amount of NHS work they take on.
Mr Jones referenced Bell Barn Dental Practice in Stoke Bishop as one of the dental surgeries that has recently gone private. A message to patients on its website confirms: "Despite discussions with the local NHS dental commissioners regarding funding, we are unable to carry on providing NHS dental treatment in Bell Barn Dental Practice in Bristol and Clyde House Dental in Swindon. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we simply cannot carry on under the current NHS contract.
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"We want to thank all our patients for understanding our decision and look forward to seeing you in the future. Our practices in Chippenham. Melksham and Calne will remain unchanged."
In a survey of high street dentists in the South West, the BDA said that 49 per cent of dentists have indicated they are “likely to go fully private”. The survey also indicated that 41 per cent said they were likely to change career or seek early retirement, while nearly three in five dentists in the South West reported having reduced their NHS commitment since the start of the pandemic by 30 per cent on average.
On a national basis, a recent analysis by the BDA of government data indicates that unmet need for dentistry in 2022 stood at more than 11 million people - or almost one in four of England’s adult population. The BDA said mass closures by dental giant Bupa will leave half a million patients without care, warning the Health and Social Care Committee that government was “just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while the service slowly slips into the sea”.
'National crisis'
BDA chair, Eddie Crouch, said: “This is a national crisis, hitting millions of patients. A decade of failed contracts and underfunding have brought this service to the brink.
“When we need real reform and fair funding, the government seems asleep at the wheel. We have seen tweaks to a failed NHS contract when we need fundamental reform. Saving this service is not rocket science - all that’s missing is political will."
A spokesperson for the NHS in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) said: “We are aware that access to NHS dentistry in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire is challenging and we are working hard to try and improve the situation for residents. This includes engaging local dental clinicians, their representatives and partners, as part of a wider South West Dental Reform programme, to offer practical support to enable dental practices to take on more NHS dentistry in the area.
“The pressures on NHS primary care dental teams in the area, as well as across the country, is severe, with workforce shortages, high demand and a backlog to address. Unfortunately, due to these ongoing pressures, some practices have felt unable to continue to operate as NHS dentists.”
The spokesperson added that in Bristol, North Somerset and Gloucestershire there are currently 64 NHS dental practices, with recently procured additional capacity in Southmead and Winterbourne. He said there are a number of measures being put in place to increase dental access for local patients. These include:
- The commissioning of additional urgent dental care appointments that people can access by calling NHS111 with an urgent dental need. There are 64 appointments each week in the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire area.
- A dental helpline that patients can access via NHS111.
- Supporting an oral health improvement initiative, in partnership with Local Authorities, called First Dental Steps where health visitors and midwives are trained to give oral health care advice to families with children under two and have oral health care packs (toothbrushes and toothpaste) to give to families in need and hope to have this fully in place later this year
- The NHS will continue to work to secure additional urgent care provision that patients can also access via NHS111
Dental practices are independent businesses, often providing a combination of NHS and private dentistry. Patients are not registered with a dentist in the same way they are with a general practitioner (doctor), and individuals can access services at a dental practice located in any area if the practice is accepting new patients.
Practices providing NHS treatment are listed on www.nhs.uk. NHS England does not hold information on practices currently accepting new patients. Each practice updates their information on www.nhs.uk.
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