Filey couple struggling to get NHS care
An elderly couple from Filey are struggling to find an NHS dentist after they were refused from their local practice.
Eunice and Jack Fox, who are both pensioners, recently sought help from the Filey Dental Care Centre after they decided to stop visiting their private dentist on the grounds that they couldn’t afford to pay for treatment any longer. Mrs Fox said that they had originally chosen private care because they couldn’t find an NHS dentist, but now they can no longer afford the cost of private treatment and are struggling to find affordable care.
The couple’s story is all the more shocking because just weeks ago practice manager of the Filey practice, Stef Lenaghan told a local newspaper that the practice has one thousand places that urgently needed filling; the announcement came after there were reports of people struggling to find an NHS dentist in Scarborough. Since that announcement, Mr and Mrs Fox have been refused by the Filey practice on the grounds that they are registered with a private dentist; the practice is currently filling places with people who do not have a dentist and have said that there may be a possibility of taking on private patients in the coming months. A spokesman from York and North Yorkshire Primary Care Trust has said that it is down to the individual practice to decide how they take on new patients.
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