Patients of Sandown Dental Practice have been left shocked by the news that the dentist will no longer be offering NHS care at all as of 1st July, as yet another Isle of Wight dental practice goes private adding to the local crisis.
The practice, based on The Broadway, says that ending the NHS contract has been an ‘extremely difficult decision’ having provided National Health Service care for over 3 decades.
Those who cannot afford to go private, or are unwilling, are being advised to seek contact details for NHS dental practices – but there are none. A quick search at www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist reveals that all listed Island dentists are not currently taking on new NHS patients, or are only taking on those who have been referred.
Parents of children already registered at Sandown Dental are being advised that their kids can still attend but on a private basis. Examinations for children already registered will be free for those aged 0-5, £10 for 6-12 and £20 for those aged 13-17. Over 18s will pay the standard private fee.
One parent has expressed their upset about the situation saying:
“My children have always been there. Now, with no alternatives and tough times, what are we supposed to do?”
The news comes just weeks after councillors said that more needs to be done to solve the Island’s dentistry problems. It has been revealed that there were no takers for a big NHS dental practice on the Island, which could have provided enough capacity to solve the current issues.
A recent report has also revealed that only 1 in 4 children aged up to 17 were seen by a dentist between July and December of last year.
Those who find themselves in pain but without a dentist can call 111 to seek urgent dental treatment.
It’s happening everywhere, more money in private treatment means more patients suffer ,unless they can afford it !!!!!
All NHS trained dentists should have to commit to at least 5/7 years of working in the NHS (dentistry) to pay back for the training they have received!!!!!
I really feel for those who have basically been abandoned by Sandown dentists .. and others…
To become a dentist you will need AAA at A levels and then do a 5 year degree course putting you over £60,000 in debt which, because of the Government changing the goalposts for new students, will now see them paying more for longer.
Maybe if medical and dentistry degrees were paid for by the Government they would be more accepting of the kind of indenture you are suggesting, but they aren’t.
Let us not, also, forget the Brexit elephant in the room which resulted in many E European dentists to go home.
We are also not a communist state, and that forced indenture to the state you suggest sounds very soviet.
Medical courses are paid for,yes you pay for accommodation, but even after 5 years you are still young, then 5/7 years in NHS Dentistry you can go private , it’s should be the same for Doctors Nurses etc !!!
Grow up. It isn’t going to happen no matter how much mouth breathers like you stamp your little feet and demand it.
All your genius plan will do is get them to go overseas for work. Plenty of well paid work in the EU, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand for dentists, doctors and nurses.
This has been looked into in the past and always comes up with the same answer. It will not work. The only way to get more NHS dentists is to pay them more for doing NHS work. Until our idiot government gets this into their tiny heads the exodus of dentists into the private sector will continue.
And if they keep up the same attitude, GPs will go the same way. GPs are not employed by the NHS, they, like dentists, are contractors and are free to go fully private if they wish, and more and more are. No more dealing with druggies, shouty self-entitled, ungrateful and abusive patients and general riff-raff, and better pay. If you are a GP in an area with sufficient wealth to fund a private practice, it’s a no brainer.
It really doesn’t matter how much you stamp your feet and make demands, or how many downvote I (or Ed) get, these are facts.
Get used to them.
Never seen a poor dentist especially when they all do a certain amount of private work.. Remember our taxes paid for them to be trained.
I am a NHS dentist, been working for NHS more than 10 years, you know how much NHS pays for urgent tooth extraction? 12 pounds, I am going away from NHS dentistry , for that kind of amount of ” money ” you can find another fool who will do charity. Patients are not happy, great, I am not happy either,
Happy to be trained by NHS though !!!!
Also £12 per extraction is more than lot’s people earn per hour !!!!!
And it doesn’t take that long to yank a tooth out ….
Glad you are not my dentist, …
But 1 thing I bet you are happy to use our NHS Doctors and Hospital …….
Person in front of me at dentist went in for check up out within 5 minutes ?????
if you are so smart, go train to be a dentist, spend all that time, all that stress and pay all that money for accommodation and university and work for nhs pittance in a stressful environment all day long and then you can talk for others and of course, glad, you are not my patient, I would never want to see anyone like you, I think nobody would
Because a 5 minute checkup is all the dentist gets paid for under the NHS. Sit down, Miss sensible. Open wide. Yep there are teeth in there, see you in 6 months.
This is just sheer greed. “extremely difficult decision”, yeah right of course it was.
Well done NHS England, the holders of the contract….. (This post may contain sarcasm)
Seeing as there are no NHS dentists anymore, maybe everyone should register with just one island dentist so that it forces all the other money grabbing scum out of business. Then they will all be clamouring to take on the big NHS dental center that they didn’t want any part of.
Greedy Dentists at it again. Give you all the smily we use you as a cash cow to get government money and then drop community like they are nothing – Disgusting and should be ashamed of themselves.
Screw NHS, they can find another fool who will work for pittance in this high stress environment and screw ungrateful patients as well, I am going private.
Hope you go bust seeing as you are so thoughtless. Me, me, me.
Let me know where so I can avoid your surgery !!!!
A salaried dentist employed by the NHS ,the wage starts at £43-000 !!!!!!.
Up to £92-000 potential, and that’s before any private work undertaken!
From NHS website ….
Nice !!! There are lots of caring people that work for a pittance to help others.
Why would anybody let you loose near their choppers?you whining selfish git ,happy for Nhs to train you but even with the Nhs your earning potential is way above the ordinary mortal!….you want unhelpful moaning people sit at a check out for an hour,even with a degree under your belt a jobs a job!….the only fool on this page is you!and it would seem. Your opinion is the thoughts of many of your colleagues…..I do hope you use a private Dc and hospital?would hate to think you would burden the Nhs with your disagreeable persona.
To give NHS patients just 1 weeks notice to leave this practice is disgusting, when they know fair well there are no other NHS dentists taking on patients! Thanks to the bosses who made that decision, why not give at least 6 months notice, why couldn’t they keep the children on at least?.
I also feel sorry for the receptionists they have to bare the brunt of the fall out, don’t suppose the bosses ever take any calls of complaints, do you???.
Where’s Bob Sealy now then ???
Hiding with his Masonic chums in a dark corner!it doesn’t involve NIMBYs and planning
Last time I saw him he was just going into the dentist
High time that dentists had to agree to take NHS patients if they want to set up a practice.
Ive been at this practice for 20 years as a private customer wasnt even aware they did NHS? Had my appointment cancelled recently as my dentist has retired and they are struggling to get a replacement, so its still a problem to see a dentist even if your paying!!
This is the same dental practice that kept taking my Denplan payments throughout the pandemic even though they gave no treatment. I questioned them and they blamed Denplan. However the practice still got my money. Rip off