New investigation finds that no NHS dentists in Lancashire are taking on new patients

Released today, the BBC found that nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service.

In Lancashire, the situation was even worse, with 100% of the 118 dental practices approached saying they were not open to new NHS patients.

The BBC contacted nearly 7,000 NHS practices, believed to be almost all those offering general treatment to the public.

Lancashire was among the third of councils nationally where BBC News researchers could not find a single practice accepting new adult patients.

Whilst NHS dental treatments are not free for most adults, they are subsidised.

What does NHS England say?

A spokesperson for the NHS in the North West said: “The NHS recently announced the first reforms to dentistry services since 2006 which will support practices to improve access including by giving high performing practices the opportunity to increase their activity and treat more patients – discussions around further changes that benefit patients and staff are ongoing.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on the North West region, has inevitably led to a disruption in routine dental care with NHS dentists having to focus on providing care for those with an urgent dental need.

“We are committed to ensuring everyone can access high quality dental care, and are looking at ways to increase access to existing services working with partners, including local dentists, to improve the recruitment and retention of the dental workforce in the area.

“At the end of January, NHS England nationally announced £50 million of non-recurrent funding to help increase access to dentistry services across the country, equating to just over £7million in the North West and aimed at addressing the most pressing issues around patient access where timely intervention for the relief of oral pain, disease and infection is vital to prevent and reduce future complications. In the North West we released further additional funding to support that work.

“All practices in the region have been invited to be involved in this initiative and additional access is becoming available each week.

“It is important to note that anyone who is in dental pain or in urgent need of support, help or advice, can telephone their own dental practice in the usual way. If they don’t have a usual dentist and have an urgent need they can contact the dental helpline on 0300 1234 010.”

NHS England also wanted to reiterate the importance of people maintaining their oral health, with information on how to do so being found here.

They added that it is important that those who are already under the care of a dentist to attend regularly when invited.

What other options are there instead of the NHS?

There are numerous other dental practices across Lancashire who offer treatments privately.

Denplan, the country’s leading dental plan specialists, says there are 60 dentists in Lancashire who offer dental care through Denplan payment plans.

This includes practices owned by larger companies such as BUPA or Synergy, as well as independent practices too.