Where have all the NHS dentists gone?

Mar 28 2008 by Joanne Douglas, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ONLY one Huddersfield dental practice is taking on new NHS patients.

The news comes as another dental practice has stopped offering treatment to NHS patients.

Patients at the Courtyard Dental Clinic, off King Street, have been told they will no longer receive NHS treatment at the practice.

Instead, they will either have to pay for private care or find a new dentist.

An online dental search reveals that, out of 50 dental practices within a six miles radius of Huddersfield, just one practice – The Edgerton Dental Practice – is currently accepting new NHS patients.

A second practice still accepts NHS patients aged under 18 only.

Matthew Kuszyk, from Huddersfield, has been a patient at the Courtyard Dental Clinic for four years.

He said: “I found out that the whole practice was going private last week.

“However, my wife sees the guy that owns the practice and he went private about six-months-ago.

“He told her that she could move to another dentist there as it was just him going private but he has now turned the whole practice private.

“I think the new owner has taken an NHS dentists and turned it private to benefit from the existing customer base, knowing full well that there is a lack of NHS dentists in the area.

“I have no problem with the fact that he wants a private practice, just the fact that he felt the need to turn an NHS dentists private.”

Another patient, who did not want to be named, takes her two young children to the practice.

She said: “It’s getting ridiculous.

“I moved to this practice because my last one stopped NHS treatment. Now this one is doing the same I have to start all over again.

“I just think dentists are getting away with too much now, there is no-one to answer to and they seem to be able to do what they like.

“I think it’s time the government did something. It’s as if they are slowly turning the whole service private by default.”

As dentists are independent practitioners, they can choose how much NHS and private dental care they provide.

Many do a mix of both but, over the past two years, some have stopped accepting new NHS patients or simply stopped offering NHS treatment completely.

Marcus White, principal dentist at the Courtyard Dental Clinic, said: “I have invested heavily in the practice over the last two years to create a stylish and relaxing environment where people feel comfortable to have their treatment.

“We have had nothing but compliments from the majority of our clients and they understand that to receive this level of service they need to pay a little bit more.”

Clare Priestley, Primary Care Contracts Manager at Kirklees Primary Care Trust, said they were being given extra funding for dental care.

She said: “In common with other PCTs across the country we have received funding from the Department of Health to increase and improve dental services.

“We are in the process of allocating funding across the whole of Kirklees to dental practices which are able to take on new patients from the PCT dental waiting list.

“Initially, priority is being given to areas where there are few dentists and high numbers of people waiting.

“We have been working with the local dentists to steadily reduce the number of people waiting to become a patient at a dental practice in Kirklees.

“Funding will be in place next month and we expect this latest initiative to go a long way towards removing the current waiting list.”

A spokeswoman for the PCT said that where NHS provision was withdrawn, the PCT will re-allocate the contract to another practice and inform all customers.