Anger and dismay has greeted the news that two new NHS dentists are not coming to Spalding as planned.
As revealed in last week’s Spalding Voice, neither of the proposed dental practise have been able to recruit and the town remains without a surgery taking on NHS patients.
JDSP Dental Ltd was looking to move into Winsover Road and had even submitted a planning application to install air conditioning.
But the company has now pulled out and will no longer be leasing the property as it struggled to recruit dentists to work in the town.
The Community Dental Services CiC, which operates and emergency surgery at the Johnson Hospital, will also no longer be opening a full-time practice.
Emergency cover is available one day a week from the Community Dental Services, but it still leaves no NHS dentist in the town since the A1 surgery, which was at the Johnson, closed in 2017.
“If we cannot recruit for a new NHS dentist here, then at least work with other local dentists to make sure that all local residents who meet the requirement for free treatments can have their work done here in this town rather than having to be told to travel up to 30 miles away. That is not acceptable at all,” said Rik Garner in a comment on the Spalding Voice’s Facebook page.
“I phoned the emergency NHS dentist before Christmas to be told that all that day’s appointments had gone and they had to turn 80 people away,” said Rebecca Pakes.
The idea of other dentists working together was also mooted by Mandy Bailey.
“Why don’t the existing surgeries for a co-op of sorts. Take it in turns to provide one dentist so there are two, five days a week?” she said.
Spalding and South Holland MP Sir John Hayes said that he would pursue the problem in a bid to bring NHS treatment to Spalding.
“Me and my family use the NHS and have an NHS dentist and it is appalling,” he said when the news broke.
Sir John suggested that NHS England provided incentives for health professionals to move to the area, which struggles to recruit.
“We need to promote the area with pride. People have a misconception about the Fens and I love the open spaces. It offers a very different way of life and perhaps more incentives should be offered to encourage relocation,” he said.
Residents were encouraged to sign-up to the new dentists which both had a projected opening date of this month.
But all mention of Spalding has gone from the JDSP website, which has opened a new surgery in Sleaford with another planned in Lincoln.
It was to have taken around 8,000 NHS patients on at the Spalding site to relieve current pressure.
Healthwatch Lincolnshire said last week it was concerned at the news.
“On behalf of patients we also ask why current NHS dental contracts in Spalding cannot be extended to take on more patients, apparently NHS England has offered this to existing services but they have been clear they do not wish to increase their current capacity,” said a statement.
