According to a recent BBC article, Hathaway Dental Practice in Chippenham will cease to provide NHS services to patients from the 1st of November, 2024.

The Wiltshire practice reportedly made the decision to make the switch to private care in a “very reluctant” manner, whilst the British Dental Association has issued a warning of a potential unprecedented collapse of dental care facilities regarding NHS treatment in the UK.

The reason given for this change in service was due to the 2006 NHS dental contract they were operating under, where the practice is awarded £28 per ‘Unit of Dental Activity’. This does not take into account the complexity of each procedure and boils it down to a flat rate, whether this be a filling or a series of complex treatments.

Practice Director, Keith Garber, said:

“This is not just us, this is across the country. Look at the bigger picture with NHS dentistry. It’s on its knees, and it’s not going to be sorted out for years.

“We’ve been very proud of being the biggest NHS dental provider in Wiltshire in the past, and it was an option of either doing this or closing the practice.”

A spokesperson for Chippenham’s Integrated Care Board has acknowledged the difficulty this will cause people who have had problems accessing dental services thus far, and has stated that it is working hard to remedy the situation.

My two-penneth

Many dentists are pulling out of the NHS contracts as I have spoken about before, but it is always saddening to hear of another instance where an areas has lost a no-doubt vital dental care facility where not all people can afford to switch to private treatment options.

Huge reform is required to steer us away from the path we are on, and sadly I do not see any improvements in the foreseeable future without tireless work (and inevitably, expense) to correct this course.