NHS dentist says St Agnes surgery 'close to breaking point'

Jenna Murgatroyd said the situation at St Agnes Dental Practice was made worse by patients needing a high level of care

An NHS dentist in Cornwall said her practice was "close to breaking point" because of underfunding.

Jenna Murgatroyd said the situation at St Agnes Dental Practice was made worse by patients needing high levels of care.

Figures from the British Dental Association (BDA) show nearly 60% of dentists in the South West are looking to reduce their NHS commitments.

The government said payments for high-needs patients had been increased.

Ms Murgatroyd, chair of the Local Dental Committee for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said remaining NHS dentists "desperately need a plan".

She said her practice had a mix of NHS and private patients and that conditions were especially difficult in Cornwall because of the age profile of patients.

"I look after a number of elderly patients who do need dentures. My costs for making those dentures are now greater than the NHS funding I receive," she said.

"We're finding that patients need hours and hours of treatment, but we don't get extra funding for those treatments."

Ms Murgatroyd said patients missing appointments was also making life difficult

Ms Murgatroyd said some patients were adding to the pressure by missing appointments, for which her practice was not reimbursed.

She said 25 hours of clinical time were lost due to last-minute cancellations in February, with about 400 appointments missed since January.

Tim Hodges, a dentist with Axminster Dental Practice in Devon, said there was very little incentive to take on any new NHS patients.

"Our practice continues to have an NHS contract which we try our hardest to keep going but it only really stays afloat because we're able to take on new private patients," he said.

'Savage cuts'

The BDA survey of 165 dentists in the South West showed nearly three in five reported having reduced their NHS commitment since the start of the pandemic - by 30% on average.

Nearly half said they were likely to go fully private and about 40% said they were likely to change career or seek early retirement.

NHS dental care is already scarce in the South West. Last summer, out of 465 dentists, only 458 told the BBC they were not accepting new patients.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it had reformed the NHS dental contract to encourage dentists to provide NHS treatments and to allow dental therapists and hygienists to offer more treatments.

It had also increased the amount practices received for high-needs patients, the spokesperson said, adding: "There were over 500 more dentists delivering NHS care in 2022 than in 2021 but we know there is more to do and we will be announcing further measures to improve access soon."

The BDA said an increase in payments would not "reverse a decade of savage cuts in the service, which can leave practices providing NHS care at a financial loss, particularly to high-needs patients".

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