Spalding NHS dental provider pulls out of new contract talks
Residents in Spalding are facing an uncertain future after the owner of a practice, which was due to open in December, pulled out of a contract to provide NHS services in the local area.
It was revealed that a new surgery would take over the NHS contract from December 2017 back in July, but it has been confirmed that the owner of Rodericks Dental has pulled out of the contract after failing to agree terms with NHS England. Rodericks Dental was due to take over from A1 Dental, which closed at the end of August.
The owner of the practice, Shalin Mehra, said that the terms were “unsustainable” and unfortunately, this meant that the clinic would be unable to offer NHS care as planned. Initially, Mr Shalin was “delighted” about winning the tender, but the terms for NHS tendering have changed in the last year, and this sadly resulted in the agreement being unsuitable for the practice.
Under the terms NHS England proposed, the practice would operate 7 days a week from 8am until 8pm. Mr Shalin said that it was already a real issue to recruit new dentists in the area and the opening hours would simply not be viable in terms of staff numbers or affordability.
Di Pegg, from NHS England in Lincolnshire, said that it was very disappointing to learn about the breakdown in contract talks with Rodericks Dental. She promised local people that the NHS was doing everything possible, including working with Healthwatch Lincolnshire and the Local Dental Network, to find a solution and ensure Lincolnshire residents have access to replacement NHS dental services as quickly as possible.
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