Patients face 30 mile round trips due to NHS dental practice closures

An investigation by The Times has found that millions of NHS patients are struggling to get a dental appointment as NHS practices become overwhelmed with patients. It discovered that 24 local authorities in England aren’t accepting any more NHS dental patients, according to the NHS Choices website. Of the surgeries with information on the NHS Choices website about whether they are accepting new NHS dental patients, 49% aren’t taking any further adults and 42% are refusing to see any more children.
Henrik Overgaard-Nielson, chair of the BDA’s GDPC, said, “These access problems exist because funding is set aside for barely half the population, while our contracts effectively cap the number of patients we can treat. It’s ludicrous that residents are facing 30-mile round trips when local practices with capacity are forbidden from doing more.”