Darlington dental practice to close
A dental practice in Darlington is set to close at the end of March.
The owners of Burgess & Hyder Darlington, which is based at Firthmoor Community Centre, have confirmed that the practice will shut permanently on March 31st. The practice, which currently provides private and NHS dental services, opened in 2009 and is part of the Burgess & Hyder Group.
Patients received a letter from the owners outlining the situation and explaining the reasons for closing the Darlington clinic. The chain has struggled to fill vacancies amid ongoing national recruitment issues and rising costs have made it impossible to keep the practice running any longer. The letter confirmed that it had been a very difficult decision for the team and the company apologised to patients for the inconvenience and thanked them for their support over the years.
News of the closure will come as a blow for local people, with very few places available for new patients in the area. Patients who were registered with the practice have been advised to consult the NHS website for details of other local surgeries.
Many practices in the North East have reduced NHS capacity or switched to private dentistry, leaving patients struggling to access NHS services. The problems are not confined to the region. Nationally, a survey found that up to 90% of UK practices were not accepting new adult NHS patients in 2022.
Patients who wish to find an alternative NHS provider in the Darlington area have been urged not to try to make appointments until they are due for their next check-up to avoid practices being inundated with calls in the run-up to the closure of Burgess & Hyder Darlington.
NHS England is currently working with local dentists to try to increase capacity. It is hoped that a new dentist will be ready to start work at Firthmoor by April 1st.
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