New NHS practice in 'dental desert' is praised

Heather Bubb said having a new NHS service was "wonderful"

A woman whose long-term dentist went private said it is "wonderful" that a new NHS surgery has opened in her town.

Heather Bubb, 77, had been with her dentist in Wellington in Somerset for more than 25 years before it suddenly went private, leaving her facing a £5,500 bill she could not afford in 2023.

The new dental surgery on an industrial estate is the first NHS service to open in the town for a decade, and took on 4,000 people before it even opened its doors, with the area formerly described by health chiefs as a "dental desert".

Dr Nadeem Harunani, from firm Dentistry for You, said: "We wanted to see if we can help in reaching out and provide dental access under the NHS."

Ms Bubb, who was among the first patients to be treated in the new surgery, said being a pensioner meant she was unable to afford private dentist care.

"We all have to save as we get older because things like this do come up unexpectedly and I have a small amount of savings which hopefully I wouldn't have to use for that."

She added "it feels wonderful" to have the new service.

Dr Harunani said while it was a challenge to bring the clinic into Wellington, he wanted to "face" it and provide those services.

He added: "It feels amazing - it makes it all the more worthwhile.

"We had an amazing response in the beginning, around 4,000 people, all of them expressing their interest on our website."

Expressions of interest for new patients have now closed, but will open again once more staff can be employed.

Dr Nadeem Harunani said it was a "challenge" to open an NHS practice in Wellington

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The opening of this new dental practice in Somerset is excellent news for local families, who will now have better access to the dental care they need on their doorstep.

"This government inherited an NHS dental system broken after years of neglect, but we are getting on with fixing it through our Plan for Change.

"We have already started rolling out extra urgent dental appointments and we are reforming the NHS dental contract to improve access, focus on prevention and ensure dentists are fairly rewarded for working in the NHS."