No dentists on NHS in Vale area (From Penarth Times)

No dentists on NHS in Vale area

10:01pm Thursday 20th April 2006 in Latest news

A STUDY carried out by the Vale of Glamorgan Citizens Advice Bureau has revealed that there are currently no NHS dentists taking on patients in the Vale area.

A spokesperson for the Vale of Glamorgan Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) said: The introduction of a new contract for NHS dentists, which came into force on April 1 this year, is designed to provide extra money for dental services. Dentists are to continue to provide the same services as they did previously, with some also providing extra services. Unfortunately, the introduction of the contract at this point of time has exacerbated an existing problem for people who want to register with an NHS dentist in the Vale of Glamorgan. Recent research conducted by the Vale of Glamorgan Citizens Advice Bureau, in response to a number of callers asking how to find NHS dentists, shows that there are in fact no NHS dentists in the Vale of Glamorgan taking on new patients.

CAB said all the dentists contacted have now closed their books completely to new NHS patients and are only taking private patients. The only exception to this is Barry Hospital where there is a waiting time of approximately three to four months for an appointment.

CAB say a few dentists in the Vale still have vacancies for those patients who wish to take out a Care Plan or Pay as you go.

The CAB spokesperson said: Under the new system, the Local Health Boards (LHBs) are responsible for ensuring that there are dental services to meet local needs. If a dentist in a particular area decides to stop providing NHS dental care, the the NHS funding allocated to that dentist will be used to commission new services to make up for those lost.

However, when telephoned, neither the LHB nor NHS Direct were able to confirm whether this would be the case in the Vale of Glamorgan in the near future.

At the moment there are several dentists in the Cardiff area who are still taking new NHS patients. Details of these can be obtained from the Vale Citizens Advice Bureau by telephoning 0845 120 3756 on Mondays or Thursdays between 10am and 2pm.

Unfortunately, the NHS Direct website was not up to date when we checked it on April 6, 2006. Hopefully this also will be put to rights once the inevitable upheaval of the new contract has settled down.

For emergency treatment patients are advised to telephone NHS Direct on 0845 4647 when someone will assess their problem.