Dental pain No surgeries in city centre taking on new NHS patients
THERE are currently no dental surgeries taking on new NHS patients in central Bristol, forcing the NHS to apologise to patients for the dearth of services.
A Post investigation found that none of the 21 dentist practices listed on the NHS website as being within two miles of the city centre are accepting new patients. Some have waiting lists stretching as far as February next year.
At least 12 of the surgeries were accepting new private patients, with appointments available immediately.
Many of the surgeries contacted openly said they could not see an NHS patient but could see a private patient, pushing people into paying more for their dental care.
Several surgeries tried to coax patients into paying a monthly fee for care as a form of dental insurance, with some of these plans costing upwards of £20 per month.
The areas currently without NHS dental provisions for new patients include the city centre, Brislington, Knowle, Westbury Park, Bishopston, Easton, St Pauls, Bedminster, Clifton, Redland, Cotham, and Southville.
An NHS England and NHS Improvement South West spokesperson apologised to patients.
They said: “We would like to apologise to anyone who has been unable to access urgent dental services in a timely manner.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, we created urgent dental centres (UDCs) to help provide care and treatment for urgent dental needs within infection prevention control guidelines while high street dental practices were closed.
“Since high street dental practices have been able to reopen for face to face appointments, they are nationally operating at around 60 per cent of their usual capacity due to infection prevention guidelines and to help manage demand for extra appointments, we have kept most of these UDCs in place.
“We have also been reviewing urgent care capacity and are in the process of working with practices to commission more urgent dental appointments for the next 12 months.”
Dentists’ surgeries were forced to close during the first lockdown in 2020, but have been allowed to open since June last year.
On the NHS simple procedures and check-ups are £23,80, moderate procedures such as fillings and extractions are £65.20, and complicated procedures such as crowns and bridges are £282.80.
All are significantly more expensive in private dentist surgeries. Children and some benefit claimants can apply for free dental care from the NHS.
“For the longer term, NHS England and NHS Improvement South West have initiated a dental reform programme to improve oral health and access to dental services across the region,” the NHS spokesperson added. “As part of this work an oral health needs assessment was completed to help understand the needs of the local population. Feedback from this and other engagement work with patients, clinicians and other stakeholders will be used to inform a plan developed with our partners for the future of dental services in the region.”
Of the dental practices contacted in Bristol, many of them had stopped accepting NHS patients permanently, with another saying they may soon cease offering NHS care altogether. Several others not only weren’t accepting new patients at present, but also had stopped adding people to their waiting lists.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the decisions of whether to offer private or NHS appointments were made by individual surgeries.
They added: “We continue to support the dental sector and are working closely with the NHS to increase access to high quality, affordable dental care as fast as possible, while protecting staff and patients. Patients requiring urgent access should contact NHS 111.”
We would like to apologise to anyone who has been unable to access urgent dental services in a timely manner.
NHS England and NHS Improvement South West