Bupa Dental Care Stamford continues to search for an NHS dentist

A dental practice has struggled to recruit a new employee to provide NHS care.

Patients at Bupa Dental Care in Stamford were told last July that one its dentists was dropping NHS provision for over 18s.

Adults who were registered with Dr Ritesh Patel had their appointments cancelled while the company recruited a replacement, but no one has been appointed.

Regional operations director Sharon Drury said: “We want to reassure all our valued patients that we have two permanent dentists who treat NHS patients at the Bupa Dental Care Stamford practice and are working to allocate appointments to them, giving priority to emergencies, children, and vulnerable patients with high needs, in keeping with our NHS contract.

"We’re continuing to seek a further NHS dentist to manage ongoing treatment for NHS patients.”

Anyone who is registered with an NHS dentist will soon experience an eight per cent price hike.

Price increases from April 24 mean the cost of a check-up will increase from £23.80 to £25.80 while treatment such as fillings will rise from £65.20 to £70.70.

The British Dental Association described the rise as "utterly grotesque".

Stamford MP Gareth Davies visited Bupa Dental Care Stamford earlier this month to discuss how to ensure access to quality dental care for patients in the town.

He said: "I had a very productive and important discussion on access to NHS care, the backlogs in patient appointments on the back of covid, and the new NHS dental contract.

"The government’s plan to make the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices is a significant improvement which should result in greater access to NHS dental care locally, and further reforms are on their way.

"Access to dentistry is an important priority of mine and it was therefore great to meet the practice manager and her team who are delivering services for residents across Stamford."