Pontefract dental practice pauses routine care to tackle backlogs
A dental practice in Pontefract has paused routine treatment in a bid to tackle growing backlogs for urgent care.
The team at Ropergate Dental Care emailed patients recently to inform them that they will only be able to access emergency dental treatment for the foreseeable future, due to rising demand for urgent care.
The email indicated that staff had been forced to take the decision as a result of increasing demand for treatment and blamed a “broken system” and a UK-wide shortage of dentists.
It is not known how many patients received the email, but there have been implications, with the practice confirming members of staff had been subjected to a “torrent of abuse” in recent days.
Patients have reacted angrily to the news that they will not be able to access routine dental services and the practice has now installed a panic button to protect staff.
One of the main concerns for patients is that other local practices are not accepting new patients, which means that they will be left without a dentist.
Kelly Hollis, a patient who has been attending the clinic for over 30 years, described the situation as “frustrating” and said that many people in Pontefract seem to be in the same position based on social media posts.
Now that Kelly and her daughters are unable to go to their normal practice, they could be facing a lengthy wait to see a dentist, with very limited capacity in the region.
The email suggested that when routine services are available again, the practice will be prioritising patients who have been seen since March 2019.
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