Wrexham: Dentist had no other option but to cut NHS capacity

Earlier this week, the Leader reported that a number of patients had been informed by the practice that they would no longer be seen by dentists at the site. 

Wrexham residents who had been affected by the changes had shared their concerns, including one person, who wished to remain anonymous, who had been a patient for over 35 years. 

They said: "I received a letter at the weekend telling me that they can't offer me NHS treatment, but that appointments already booked will be honoured. In the letter they noted that no retraction of the decision is possible and you can't question the decision.

"The letter says that it is because of dentists leaving so I thought as I had a dentist it shouldn't affect me. There's been no patient care with this decision, or concern as to who can and can't afford to pay privately.

"They have left patients with a lot of worry and cost."

However, the practice has now confirmed that the decision to cut their capacity was out of their hands due to a number of staff departures. 

Ruabon Road Dental Practice has also notified 670 people currently on their NHS wait list that they will not be in a position to invite them for an initial assessment for at least 12 months.

OTHER NEWS: 

• Tour of Britain to return to Wrexham later this year
• No plans to close any Wrexham primary schools, council chiefs confirm
• Man avoids returning to prison after admitting he used mobile phones at HMP Berwyn

Practice Manager, Suzanne Davies said: “We have been in continual dialogue with the Health Board to find a solution and losing NHS patients was not the outcome we hoped for.

"The reality of the situation is that for the safety and wellbeing of our team and our patients, we have no alternative other than to reduce our NHS capacity so we may continue to provide safe and effective dental care to our remaining 8,000 NHS patients.

"Despite their lists being at full capacity, our current NHS dentists have kindly agreed to treat children under the age of 18 years that were under the leaving dentists' lists to ensure they receive continuous NHS care.

"We would love to be able to retain all of our patients that have benefitted from NHS care and been customers of ours for many years.

• Keep up to date with news from across Wrexham and Flintshire by signing up for Leader newsletters here

"However, due to regulations set out by NHS Wales, we cannot choose the patients that we keep or lose based on how long they have been with us or any other selection criteria.

"We are obliged to remove the patients that were under our departed NHS dentists' lists and of the dentists that have reduced their contracts".

Clinical Director Dan Naylor adds: “We remain committed to our patients and continue our campaign to recruit more NHS dentists so we can hopefully welcome patients back in the future. We pride ourselves in our transparency and will continue to keep our community informed of any changes”.