Bupa Dental Care to shut 85 practices
Bupa Dental Care has revealed plans to close or merge up to 85 dental practices as a result of recruitment issues and challenges facing the industry.
The chain, which currently operates more than 400 clinics across the UK, will shut, sell or merge 85 practices by the end of the year. This means that the business will run 365 practices by the start of 2024.
Bupa Dental Care has blamed a national shortage of dentists and systemic problems facing the dental industry for the situation, which has made it impossible to keep all the practices going. Bupa owns both NHS and private dental clinics. Company representatives claim that patients are unable to access the services they need due to a shortage of dental professionals and rising costs, which are making it increasingly difficult to keep businesses above water.
The decision will impact thousands of patients up and down the country and around 1,200 members of staff could lose their jobs. This equates to over 10% of Bupa Dental’s UK workforce.
Bupa has confirmed that it will be looking to deploy staff elsewhere where possible to minimise job losses.
The company stated that practices have experienced significant issues recruiting dentists, particularly NHS dentists, for several months, with some clinics unable to fill vacancies for years. As NHS dentist numbers have fallen, the demand for services has increased and running costs have also risen substantially in the last year.
Bupa will hand NHS contracts back to local commissioners, who will seek to find new providers to ensure that patients have access to local NHS services. Mark Allan, general manager, said that the decision to close clinics was a last resort.
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