A COUNCILLOR claims some pensioners have been without dental care for almost two years after the closure of an NHS practice.

Cllr Richard Udall described the situation as a ‘local crisis’ and called on the NHS to open up a new clinic in St John’s, Worcester.

He said there had been a lack of dental provision in west Worcester since St John’s Dental Practice shut in May 2016.

But NHS England said it is trying to boost the number of public patients at the Bupa practice, in St John's, and insisted that a new practice will open in the area soon. 

Cllr Udall added: “3,000 patients were left without an NHS dentist. I believe the majority have found another.

“What concerns me is people that can’t get across the river. Especially pensioners who can’t cross the city and go to another NHS dentist. [They] have simply not gone to the dentist since its closure.

“There’s an NHS dentist next to St John’s Church but as I understand it they are not taking any more patients.”

Bupa Dental Care Worcester, in Bromyard Road, confirmed that it is not accepting any additional NHS patients.

Cllr Udall said: “I was hoping that there would be a review of NHS dental practices in Worcester to see if there’s still a surplus capacity and see if we can get a practice back for St John’s.”

He said that the closure of St John’s Dental Practice has predominantly affected those on low incomes and the elderly.

Speaking at the Worcestershire County Council meeting last month, John Smith, the cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “In the south of the county I don’t think there’s a problem with people wishing to get treatment on the NHS via a dentist.

“Most dentists in my area are always advertising on their billboards etc ‘we welcome national health patients’.

“So as I say, whether there’s a particular area in St John’s - there’s always problems in St John’s when you speak Richard - if you want me to look into that we certainly will.”

The clinic in St John’s opened after the Green Dental Practice closed in 2010.

St John’s Dental Practice was opened to tackle the shortage of public health dentists in the neighbourhood.

However the surgery closed after its five-year ‘personal dental services’ contract expired, despite being offered a permanent contract.

Councillor Alan Amos, former chair of the council’s health overview and scrutiny committee, launched a probe into the closure, after complaints from residents.

Salma Ali, West Midlands' programme director for NHS England, said: “St John’s Dental Practice closed in May 2016 when the contract expired.

“To ensure that patients continued to have access to local, high quality dental health care, additional capacity was purchased at a number of the dental practices situated less than a quarter of a mile away from St John’s Dental Practice, on the south side of the river.

“This additional capacity was to help local dental practices to accommodate any extra patients.

“We can confirm the Bupa practice on Bromyard Road is not currently taking on new patients, but NHS England has identified additional funding and is working hard to secure extra capacity at the practice.

“NHS England awarded a new contract to a dental practice in the local area in 2017. The new practice has only recently secured premises and will be opening soon. The local population will be made aware when it opens.

“NHS England works closely with the local authority and Public Health England to continually refresh our needs assessment to ensure that there is a sufficient dental provision for the local population.

“NHS England is committed to making sure that dental services are efficient, effective and making the best use of NHS resources.

“A West Midlands-wide dental access review will be undertaken over the coming months to make sure that patients have access to the local dental services that they need.”