Leigh Dental Surgery Turns NHS Patients Away

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A dental surgery in Leigh is turning NHS patients away after running out of funds for NHS dental treatment.

Patients at the Leigh Primary Care Dental Surgery are being advised to call back in April, when the new financial year begins, or pay for treatment after the practice confirmed that it had no NHS funds left.

Jo Maddison is one of those affected by the news; last week, she tried to arrange an appointment for her daughter Daisy, 4, but was informed that if she wanted to see a dentist she would be required to pay £21. NHS dental treatment should be provided free of charge for all children and Jo said that it was a shame that some children would be missing out on free dental treatment for the next few months.

Jo said that she wanted to spread the word and posted a message on Twitter to let other people know; she had assumed that the practice would have notified patients, but this was not the case. She added that it was disappointing that the practice had run out of funds considering that there are still three months until the new financial year starts. Another patient was informed that her treatment would cost £20 more than usual.

A spokeswoman for the practice, which is managed by Hurunani & Co, said that there had been a significant increase in the number of patients attending the practice in the last couple of months and this caused funding to run out. Emergency treatment is available and patients have the option of attending the chain’s Hockley practice or waiting until April for treatment.

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