Dentistry in crisis

[Knighton Matt]

Hundreds of patients have queued at a dentist surgery in south Wales after it announced that it was going private.

People lined up from 0730 GMT on Saturday after the practice in Dinas Powys sent letters saying it was to stop NHS treatment for adults.

The letters warned that private places were limited and registration would be on a first come, first served basis.

Dentist Timothy Mills said they had been taken aback but hoped to provide as many places as they could.

People waiting to register at the Castle Court practice said the queue reached a quarter-mile in length at its high point.

One woman, a 73-year-old disabled widow, said a friend offered to stand in the queue for her but had to give up because it was too long.

It just seems ridiculous that you have to turn out and queue for four of five hours to register with our own dentist

Carol Hatton

She said: "I'm worried that I'm not going to find myself with a dentist that I can go to.

"It would have been nice if people like me would have been able to register by post.

"It would have meant a colossal in-tray in their surgery but surely that's better than people waiting out on a cold morning?"

Carol Hatton, whose husband was in the queue to register for the couple and their teenage son, said: "It just seems ridiculous that you have to turn out and queue for four of five hours to register with our own dentist."

'Big decision'

Mr Mills, who took over the practice in the Vale of Glamorgan village recently, said registrations started before the official time of 0930 GMT once staff realised a long queue was forming.

He said: "It is only recently that we have made a firm decision that we do not feel our practice can operate under the [new] NHS contract.

"The fact that people are as they are this morning is due to the fact that we have left things very late. It's sad state of affairs for people.

"It's been a very big decision to make. It's not taken lightly. The last thing we want to do is say we cannot provide you with dental care."

He said an external company was hired to handle the change-over.

He added that the practice could not guarantee that everyone who wanted to register as a private patient would be able to do so, although he declined to discuss the figures involved.

He said: "We're looking at options to provide as many spaces as we can."

Mr Mills later said the practice had begun handing out tickets to people in the queue so they could register at another time.

There have recently been long queues in a number of towns in Wales after a dental firm announced it was opening up to NHS registrations.

The British Dental Association in Wales has claimed that the new contracts being introduced from April will mean dentists having to do more work to earn an equivalent amount of money.

Source

Can't see it being long before this is the case all round the country. The new contract formulated by the government for NHS dentists is a joke and many in Leicester are already stopping treating adults on the NHS completely.

None of the NHS dentists are happy about it and plenty are going private or taking early retirement solely because of the introduction of this new contract but the government are insisting that everything is fine and dandy and that they anticipate no problems when the new contract comes into force next month.

Time for a government reality check before the s**t really hits the fan in the coming year and many of us may be without an NHS dentist.

[Guest]

None of the NHS dentists are happy about it and plenty are going private or taking early retirement solely because of the introduction of this new contract but the government are insisting that everything is fine and dandy and that they anticipate no problems when the new contract comes into force next month.

Time for a government reality check before the s**t really hits the fan in the coming year and many of us may be without an NHS dentist.

My dentist is considering going private, which is a shame as he's a bloody good dentist, and he's based in an area where I would suspect most of his patients would not be able to afford private treatment.

You can pick up a card from your dentist to send to your MP, or you can write to them directly.

[Dr The Singh]

Lack of funds within the NHS, and some services are being hit!! Things will get worse, the government are on a major recriutment drive to bring foriegn dentist\doctors from abroad, there will be alot of dentists that are not upto the standard and training of UK dentists!!

Eventually, the NHS will only be for people that cannot afford private and those on NHS will be in waiting lists etc, even for minor treatments, the government cannot afford the services and treatments in an ever growing society!!!

[Guest]

Still, it's ok to pay scroungers and layabouts benefits, people. That's the beauty of a welfare state.

[Steven]

Still, it's ok to pay scroungers and layabouts benefits, people. That's the beauty of a welfare state.

Or rather in this case the stupidity of Goverrnment. <_<

[Dr The Singh]

Still, it's ok to pay scroungers and layabouts benefits, people. That's the beauty of a welfare state.

It's a fact that hard working tax payers pay for those sponging on benefits, majority tax payers like you and me can't afford private treatment, so we get a sh*te deal out of it!! Also, most people that make decisions for us and the NHS, ie politicians\NHS execs all high earners and can afford private treatment. By the way, on average all NHS execs\directors gave themselves 10 % pay rise in november, compared to nurses who gt just above inflation!!!