Only one dental practice in Worcester is accepting adult NHS patients without referrals.

A survey conducted by the BBC and British Dental Association (BDA) has found that across England, 91 per cent of practices believed to hold NHS contracts are not accepting new adult patients.

This proportion is replicated in Worcestershire, where there is a total of 57 practices.

According to the ‘Find a dentist’ tool on the NHS website, Bhandal Dental Practice on Ombersley Road is the only practice in the city accepting new adult NHS patients without a referral.

Shawn Charlwood, chairman of the BDA’s general dental practice committee, said: “NHS dentistry is at a tipping point, with millions unable to get the care they need and more dentists leaving with every day that passes.

“We’re seeing the results of years of chronic neglect, set into overdrive by the pressures of the pandemic. The question now is will ministers step up before it’s too late?

“Nothing we’ve heard from government to date gives us any confidence this service has a future.

“Without real reform and fair funding NHS dentistry will die, and our patients will pay the price.”

The BBC and BDA called all 8,533 dental practices across the UK that were believed to hold NHS contracts.

Of the 5,416 in England, 4,933 were not accepting new adult patients with 16 per cent stating that the waiting time was a year or longer, or they were unable to confirm how long it would be.

According to the ‘Find a dentist’ tool, there are 13 practices within a two mile radius of the WR1 postcode.

Of these, three are not accepting any new NHS patients while five are only accepting those who have been referred.

Gentle Dental Care on London Road is accepting children whilst Bhandal Dental Practice is the only one accepting adults.

Two practices have not provided an update on whether they are taking in new NHS patients.

The NHS has said that work is being done to improve services.

A spokesperson said: “The NHS recently announced the first reforms to dentistry services since 2006 which will support practices to improve access including by giving high performing practices the opportunity to increase their activity and treat more patients – discussions around further changes that benefit patients and staff are ongoing.

“Infection prevention and control measures to protect staff and patients were introduced during the pandemic, limiting the number of procedures that NHS dentists could carry out, however these have now been lifted so dental teams can operate at full capacity for the first time in two years.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: “Improving patient access to NHS dental care is a government priority and the new reforms to the dental contract announced last month are an important step.”