Local reporter turned down by 49 Liverpool dental practices
A local reporter has shared his experiences of trying to get a dental appointment in Liverpool.
Remy Greasley has lived in the city for five years. As a student, he wasn’t really bothered about seeing a dentist but recently, he tried to make an appointment. Remy had heard others talking about the lack of appointments in the area but he was shocked to find that after spending hours on the phone, not a single NHS practice could help him.
Remy drew up a list of 49 practices that offered NHS services in Liverpool and Merseyside. He worked through the list methodically, asking about the availability of NHS appointments for new patients. He quickly found that the stories he had heard from flatmates and colleagues and the headlines he had read were not an exaggeration or clickbait. A pattern emerged. There were no appointments available at any of the practices for new adult NHS patients.
Remy was offered the chance to join a waiting list, but some practices had over 900 people waiting to see a dentist. There was also an option to pay for private dental care. The average cost for a routine check-up was around £85.
After endless calls, Remy was unable to make an appointment unless he was willing to see a private dentist. He said that at a push, he would be able to cover a dental bill of “a couple of hundred pounds” but questioned what families that are already struggling to make ends meet are supposed to do, with the cost of living soaring.
A recent BBC study indicated that up to 98% of dental practices in the North West are not accepting new adult NHS patients.
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