Dentist surgery to take NHS to court (From Worcester News)

Dentist surgery to take NHS to court

10:00am Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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THE owners of a Worcester dental surgery faced with closure is taking NHS Worcestershire to court.

The Green Dental Practice in Dines Green will shut at the end of this month because no one has come forward to take it over.

The running of the surgery, in Gresham Road, was put out to tender by the NHS after John Bue, the Worcester dentist who opened the practice, was killed in a motorbike crash in June last year.

The surgery is now questioning the way in which the NHS handled the situation and will take the trust to Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, March 24, to request a judicial review.

A judicial review is a type of court case in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body. They are used to challenge the way a decision has been made – rather than whether that decision was right or wrong.

While staff from the surgery confirmed that court proceedings had begun, neither they nor Scaiff LLP – the solicitors representing them, or the owner – would comment further.

The practice, which opened in 2002, has more than 7,000 patients on its books and employs eight people, including four part-time dentists.

When Mr Bue died NHS Worcestershire agreed for his widow, Jocelyn, to take over the day-to-day running of the practice until another dentist came forward to take over. As previously reported in your Worcester News, Dr Anushika Sharma, the dentist who has been helping Mrs Bue run the practice for the past nine months, was on the verge of signing a deal when Mr Bue died. She believes that the NHS should have “used discretion” and claimed there was no need to put the tender out.

But a spokesman for the trust said it was legally required to tender for the service following Mr Bue’s unexpected death.

She said: “NHS Worcestershire remains committed to ensuring there is NHS dental provision across the county for all who want it and has been doing all it can to ensure that dental services continue to be provided in Dines Green. This includes offering a six month extension to the existing Dines Green Dental Practice while the tendering process is completed which, regrettably, has been rejected.”