NHS England Advises Portishead Dental Practice to Travel to Nailsea or Clevedon
NHS England has advised patients struggling to join a dental list in Portishead to travel to Nailsea or Clevedon.
The move comes after a report from Healthwatch North Somerset highlighted inaccuracies in information provided by NHS dental services. The report also raised issues about access to dental places in the area.
Following the publication of the report, Maxine Quantrill from the primary care support team wrote to the watchdog. She advised the group and dental patients in the area that there are places available in nearby Nailsea, Clevedon and Backwell. Three practices in Nailsea and one in Backwell did not hit their targets in terms of dental activity for 2014/2015 and therefore are able to offer new patient places. The practices are accepting fee paying adults, children and those exempt from dental costs. It is estimated that there are more than 200 places available across the four clinics.
In the letter, Ms Quantrill did write that she understands that services in Portishead are currently running at capacity due to the establishment of a new housing development. However, practices with available places are located just five or six miles away.
Research carried out by the watchdog found that several practices advertising places online via NHS Choices were not actually taking on new patients. This meant many patients were confused about how to go about joining a register.
Join this Discussion