Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Daily Mirror

National

Martin Bagot

Half a million patients to see their dental practice axed - see full list of dentists affected

Bupa Dental Care NHS Bupa United Kingdom

Half a million patients are set to see their dental practice axed in a move set to worsen the crisis accessing NHS dentists.

Bupa, one of the UK's largest private providers of dental practices, is set to cut 85 dental practices blaming the Government’s flawed funding contract for dentists.

The firm said it has not been able to recruit enough dentists to deliver NHS care in many practices for months and in some cases years.

The 85 practices will be closed, sold or merged later this year, bringing the total number of Bupa practices in the UK down to 365. The move will affect 1,200 employed and self-employed staff.

It comes after the Mirror revealed 11 million Brits are now going without appointments or cannot afford dental fees, up from four million in 2019.

The firm has blamed Tory cuts for the number of practices going (Getty Images)

Some resorted to ripping out their own teeth in desperation or taking loans to get treatment abroad.

Bupa will be handing back the dental contract to the NHS for practices that are set to close, meaning local commissioners must try to find new providers to continue treating patients in the area.

Mark Allan, general manager for Bupa Dental Care, said: "We fully understand the impact today's decision has on our patients and our people within these practices.

"This decision has not been taken lightly and closure is a last resort.

"Despite our continued efforts, the dental industry is facing a number of significant and systemic challenges that are placing additional pressure on providing patient care, in particular recruiting dentists to deliver NHS dental care."

A BBC investigation last year found nine out of ten UK dental practices were not accepting new adult patients. Eight out of ten were not taking on any more children.

Dentists blame a decade of Tory cuts and a flawed national payment contract that does not reward work actually carried out.

A dentist is paid the same whether they do three or a dozen fillings on a patient so “high needs” patients are now the least welcome because it is difficult to hit NHS targets treating complex cases.

The 40th annual British Social Attitudes Survey 2022 this week showed public satisfaction with dentistry is lower than all other NHS services.

All are now at record lows but just 27 per cent were either “very” or “quite” satisfied with NHS dentistry, compared to 30 per cent for A&Es and 35% for General Practice.

Last year children missed 60,000 hours of schooling because of the need for dental treatment.

On average 73 children a day are having to have rotten teeth removed with youngsters from poorer areas much more likely to have to resort to A&E care.

The Bupa dental practices facing the axe have a high NHS commitment (Publicity Picture)

Cat Hobbs, director at anti-privatisation campaign group We Own It, said: "Millions of people will be affected by this and they will be rightly furious.

“This should be a huge wake up call to the government. This absolutely dire situation is directly caused by their policy of relying on private profit-making companies to deliver vital healthcare, while underfunding our NHS.

“They seem to want to cement the reputation of Brits having bad teeth.

“The Government must change course right now and fully fund our NHS dentists to deliver free, high quality care for everyone who needs it."

There are around 12,000 dental practices in the UK but many of these only take private paying patients.

The Bupa dental practices facing the axe have a high NHS commitment.

Analysis of NHS data by the British Dental Association showed some 7.5 million people in England were unable to access NHS dentists last year due to being turned away, left on long waiting lists or put off by costs.

And 3.6 million did not even bother trying to get an appointment as they believed there was no chance of one.

The Bupa announcement came less than 48 hours after the Government announced a record hike in NHS dental fees.

Millions struggling with the cost of living crisis in England will see a 8.5 per cent increase in dental contributions from April 24.

A band 1 treatment like a check-up will increase from £23.80 to £25.80, a band 2 like a filling will increase from £65.20 to £70.70, and a band 3 like dentures will increase from £282.80 to £306.80.

It comes after a decade in which the Government has cut direct taxpayer funding and made the public pay a greater share directly for dental appointments.