DISGRUNTLED patients are finding it almost 'impossible' to register with an NHS dentist in Worcester as the scale of the deepening dental crisis is laid bare.
Adults and children will struggle to register with an NHS dentist in Upton, Evesham and Stourport as many are no longer taking new patients - but in Worcester that task has now become almost impossible.
According to the latest figures on 'find a dentist', confirmed by a ring around of city dental practices (where that information was unavailable online), the only practice taking on new NHS patients is the Bullring Dental Practice in St John's.
However, some practices in the north of the county are taking new patients, suggesting a postcode lottery with Worcester having far poorer levels of access.
NHS England delegated dental services together with pharmacy and optometry services to each of the Midlands ICBs (integrated care boards) in April last year.
Mr Walker has been seeking reassurances from local commissioners at NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) who now hold the purse strings for local dental care that more NHS provision will be made available.
A dentist at Gentle Dental Care in London Road in Worcester has written to patients saying he will no longer be taking private patients from February 1, a controversial decision exposing wider concerns about access to NHS dentistry in Worcester, including for children.
Tom Collins, who hopes to become the city's next Labour MP, has described the situation in the city as a 'crisis' and NHS dentistry to be on the verge of 'collapse'.
However, the city's incumbent Conservative MP, Robin Walker, who has also expressed concern, says there is 'money in the pot' and is chasing NHS commissioners for answers (with his last response from them in October).
Mr Collins, speaking on Thursday after meeting NHS leaders, said: "It’s now impossible for any adult to register with an NHS dentist in the city (no practices are taking in NHS patients anywhere in Worcester) and I am hearing from residents who are losing their existing places.
"Part of the problem seems to be that it tends to be individual dentists tend to take on NHS work at any given practice. If that person steps away from NHS work, then patients are left without access to an NHS dentist. Shockingly, some are them being told that they will be de-registered because they have left too long between checkups.
"In reality, dentists can’t afford to do NHS work any more. The payments and targets that dentists receive were set over 15 years ago and the government hasn’t adapted them to keep up with the changes in patient needs and the workforce. The system now needs a major project to restore NHS dental access. Wes Streeting, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary has promised to create 700,000 more emergency dental appointments a year to make a first step."
Meanwhile, a publicly available list suggest no city dentists are taking NHS patients at all with a grim picture emerging across the county.
NHS lists show that many Worcester dentists in the city are not accepting new NHS patients including Bupa Dental Care in St Mary's Street, Epworth House Dental Surgery in Shrubbery Avenue, Gentle Dental in London Road, St John's Dental in Malvern Road, Bhandal Dental Practice in Ombersley Road, Abbotsbury Court Dental Practice in St Peter's and mydentist in Ankerage Green, Warndon Villages.
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Some dentists had not supplied recent information on whether they were taking NHS patients. But our own enquiries revealed that Beeches Dental was also not taking NHS patients.
Some practices outside the city are taking NHS patients - for example Worcester Road Dental Practice in Droitwich, Spa Dental Clinic (also in Droitwich) which are both accepting children aged 17 or under. Kidderminster also has places - Stanley Dental Practice, Denora, Sutton Park Dental Centre are accepting new patients.
However, the situation in Worcester (where practices are not taking new NHS patients) is replicated elsewhere in the county, including at Malvern Hills Dental Care, Upton Dental Surgery in Tunnel Hill, Grafton House Dental Surgery in Evesham, Bupa Dental Care in Pershore
Mercian House Dental Practice in Stourport, Mitton Dental Surgery in Stourport, R A Arrowsmith Dental Practice in Stourport are also not taking new NHS patients.
A spokesperson for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire said: “Responsibility for arranging NHS dental care was delegated to NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire from NHS England in July last year. This means that we now have the opportunity ourselves to address the gap in local NHS dental services that has grown over the past ten years. Fixing this issue - and ensuring that we increase the availability of NHS Dental provision for local residents - is a key priority for us.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t something that can be resolved immediately. Some of the challenges are linked to the availability of dentists to provide these services. However, since taking control of NHS dental services we’ve already arranged for extra dental capacity across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and we will shortly be running a procurement to open up additional new NHS dental practices within the county.”
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