NHS England says Spalding is on track for new NHS dentist on March 1
NHS England has confirmed a new NHS dentist for Spalding is on track to open on March 1.
Patients wishing to register can visit Winsover Dental Care at https://winsoverdentalcare.co.uk/
We revealed in October that an “8 to 8” dental practice was poised to run a seven days a week dental service from a building in Winsover Road.
NHS England announced JDSP Dental as its preferred bidder for the service “with a model of care designed to offer routine as well as urgent care for patients not linked to a dental practice”.
NHS England also wanted to launch a separate “extended access” dental service for the town.
But no preferred bidder was identified in October and that’s still the case.
A spokesman for NHS England said they hope to have more to say on that “closer to the new financial year”, which begins in April.
Since the closure of the NHS 1A Dental Service at Spalding’s Johnson Community Hospital in August 2017, Healthwatch Lincolnshire has been inundated with phone calls and emails from people asking for help to find a new NHS dental service.
“Due to the large number of calls we were receiving we knew very early after 1A Dental Service closed that the impact was going to be significant,” said Sarah Fletcher, chief executive officer of HWLincs, the charity delivering Healthwatch Lincolnshire.
She said alternative NHS dentists were few and far between, so they started to put pressure on NHS England as soon as they were aware of the situation.
Sarah said: “We did this by sharing every one of the concerns raised with us, on a weekly basis, which eventually was in the hundreds.
“NHS England have since worked very closely with us to keep us informed of their plans to commission new services in the town.
“However, sadly last year NHS England’s plans to commission new services fell through which was a big disappointment for all concerned, so the news that this new dental service will be ready by March this year is fantastic”.
She said Healthwatch Lincolnshire staff will continue to work closely with the NHS England team responsible for dental services in Lincolnshire as the county is still not up to its full allocation of NHS dental services.
JDSP Dental were asked to comment on their plans but nothing was received before we went to press.
*Anyone who wishes to share their experiences and concerns about health and care services in Lincolnshire - or would like some help with signposting or information where to go for help - can contact Healthwatch Lincolnshire on 01205 820892; email info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk or visit www.healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk
A dentist based in Wyberton helped ease the crisis in Spalding by taking NHS patients.
