'I was living on soup, porridge and painkillers'

Cherry Hill says she was on a liquid diet for four months

People living in the Lincolnshire seaside resort of Mablethorpe say they are becoming increasingly frustrated by their long wait for a NHS dentist.

A new practice was due to open in January - the first in the town since 2019 - but the wait goes on.

Patients say they have been told the delays are down to "red tape" and problems with the contract between Winsover Dental Care and NHS Lincolnshire.

NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it is working with Winsover "to mobilise the service as quickly as possible".

Cherry Hill is among the hundreds of residents who have tried to register for the new dental practice.

She says one of her cats knocked her tooth loose in February.

"I've been living on soup, porridge and painkillers. I've been on a liquid diet since," Ms Hill said.

An osteoporosis sufferer, she is unable to leave her home without help from a carer.

She managed to get an appointment at the nearest NHS dentist in Alford, but could not find a carer with an extra hour available to take her, until last week.

She added: "There's not enough carers around here. I've been trying to get the tooth removed for nearly four months. I get an appointment no problem, then I was having to cancel it two days before because there was no one to take me."

Mick Fairfield says poor teeth are one of his 'pet hates'

A few streets away, Mick Fairfield answered the door, without the smile he used to give visitors.

"I broke a tooth, and it was my front one, so that was so embarrassing. You try not to smile and try to keep your mouth shut as much as you can."

When his tooth snapped, he was unable to find an NHS dentist in the whole of Lincolnshire who could repair it. He says he cannot afford private treatment, so it was removed at an NHS emergency appointment.

"I really went thinking they could repair it, but no. It was because it was going to take a few days or a few weeks. So I'm left like I am now.

"It's always been one of my pet hates, people who don't look after their teeth, and now I've gone and done this."

Dental desert

Mablethorpe has been a dental desert since 2019, when the last practice offering routine appointments shut its doors permanently.

Lincolnshire struggles to attract dentists. The latest NHS Dental Statistics Annual Report shows more dentists in the county left the NHS than joined in 2022-23.

It found Lincolnshire only had 38 dentists per 100,000 population, the lowest ratio in the Midlands, and the third lowest in England.

So there was celebration when Winsover Dental Care announced it would open a new NHS practice in Mablethorpe on 26 January.

Resident Julie Clark joked: "I put the bunting up first, and the flags out!

"You can get in anywhere, practically, if you're private, but no NHS whatsoever. You either have to go private or you do without."

Julie Clark's appointment at the new practice has been postponed three times

Ms Clark says friends in the town travel as far as Leamington Spa, Leicester and North Yorkshire to see NHS dentists.

She secured an appointment at the new Mablethorpe practice, but says it has been postponed three times.

She says staff told her the delay was down to a disagreement about the contract between the surgery and the NHS.

"Everyone's very frustrated and wondering if it's even going to happen or if the dentist will get fed up and give up," she said.

"Please, somebody dot the i's and cross the t's and get it done. It's ridiculous."

The new dental practice will be in Mablethorpe's Marisco Medical Centre

Neither Winsover Dental Care, nor NHS Lincolnshire ICB, which commissions dental services in the county, would tell the BBC the reason for the delay.

NHS Lincolnshire ICB said: "It is a commissioning priority to secure the future provision of NHS dental services in the Mablethorpe area.

"The new provider and ICB are working together to mobilise the service as quickly as possible.

"We look forward to confirming the start date of the new service soon."

It added that emergency dental appointments remain available in Mablethorpe "while the long-term solution of a new resident provider is implemented".

Winsover Dental Care said it did not want to comment further.