WHICH aspect of dentistry is actually "deplorable"?

Deplorable the Malvern Gazette (February 11) failed to convey that as a family dental practice we were encouraging new families to join our practice. Deplorable that there was no £39.45 consultation fees for children. Deplorable that families were actually offered a 50 per cent discount. Deplorable that our practice has accepted over 800 private patients and NHS patients in the last eight months. Deplorable that these numbers show that we are offering a service that the public want and are prepared to pay for. Deplorable that the NHS is over regulated and under funded leading to a decrease in professional goodwill and consequently to NHS patients access. Deplorable that the PCT previously "told us" as an independent business that they considered our actions "immoral".

Doctors refer patients for private hospital care, chiropodists and physiotherapists treat NHS and private patients, solicitors do private and legal aid work, are they all "immoral"?

What is deplorable is that the PCT refused a request last July to fund new NHS capacity at our practice, while acknowledging the crisis regarding NHS patient access in Malvern.

Yet nine months later the PCT branded our practice as "opportunistic" for increasing access while, to date, it has failed in its duty to provide alternatives for the general public.

RUPERT PARSONS, Parsons Dental Care, Malvern Link.