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This from Ieaun Jehu, West Wight. Ed
When the people of the West Wight elected the Island’s first Labour MP at the beginning of last month, it was done on the back of a manifesto which pledged to rescue NHS dentistry and provide 700,000 new appointments every year.
Now, just seven short weeks later, the only dental practice west of Newport which treats NHS patients, is faced with closure.
Staff will be made redundant
Staff at mydentist in Freshwater have been given notice that they will be made redundant in October, as the UK’s largest dental chain continues their withdrawal from the Isle of Wight.
This follows the closure of the Group’s Newport surgery at the beginning of the year.
Almost half of Island adults unable to access NHS dental services
The problems affecting dentistry provision, both nationally and on the Island, are well known. A 2021 report from Healthwatch Isle of Wight showed that, even prior to the closure of the mydentist practice in Newport, almost half of Island adults were unable to access NHS dental services and a significant number of Islanders are living in constant pain as a direct result of being unable to access an NHS dentist.
Affecting rural communities
Recruitment and retention of staff are problems which are affecting dental practices in rural communities all over the country.
These problems have been felt acutely here on the Island, where the housing crisis has pushed up the average costs of accommodation to absorb more than half of the salary of a newly qualified dentist and poor educational outcomes act as a deterrent to dentists with young families, looking for somewhere to settle.
The promise of Golden Hellos
The Labour government has laid out plans to address the recruitment and retention problems in the hope of delivering an extra 700,000 urgent and emergency dental appointments every year.
They aim to do this by offering “golden hellos” of £20,000 for those dentists who spend at least three years working in under-served areas, like ours, and reforming the NHS dental contract – which, in its current form, has been a deterrent against some dentists treating NHS patients and financially penalises those who conduct too many NHS treatments.
Freshwater practice well staffed
It is not staffing issues which are the cause of the threatened closure of the dental practice in Freshwater though. The practice is well staffed, with three qualified dental nurses, two support staff and two self-employed dentists.
All of whom are local residents and together they treat roughly 6,000 people; 2,500 funded through the NHS.
Speaking to one of the dentists at the practice, who is dedicated to her patients and is keen to see a solution found which keeps her and her colleagues serving their community, it was made clear that no matter how swiftly the new government implement their plan to rescue NHS dentistry, it would not effect the decision to close the practice.
A shift to private patients
The mydentist Group Ltd (formally known as Integrated Dental Holdings) is undergoing a period of transition. Since Palamon transitioned from a minority owner of the business to a controlling shareholder in 2021, CEO Tom Riall has been reshaping the business which historically focused on lower margin NHS dentistry.
Over the last financial year the company increased the share of its revenue generated from private patents to 41%, up from 32% in 2022/23.
Investment in York
The opening of mydentist Group’s new facility in York at the beginning of the summer, shows the new model under which to company seeks to operate. This modern, state-of-the-art practice, is housed in a huge, glass fronted building, close to York’s city centre. Following a £1.5m investment, the building which used to be occupied by a large gym, is now home to 12 surgeries, with room to grow to 15.
Here the company covers all aspects of dental care under one roof, with services ranging from check-ups to dental surgery and cosmetic services.
mydentist Group no longer interested in the small village practices
There is no market for a facility of this kind on the Island — the people who can afford private dental services are well provided for — and I believe the mydentist Group are no longer interested in the small village practices our communities require.
Going forward then, for the largely elderly and somewhat isolated community of Freshwater and the surrounding villages to continue to receive dental care treatment through the NHS, a new organisation will need to be found to step in.
Quigley: Now is the time to act
When asked for comment, West Wight Labour MP, Richard Quigley, said,
“I’ve written to Stephen Kinnock, the minister responsible for dentistry to ask for help solving the IW problem with NHS dentistry and more immediately for help with the closure of the dentist in freshwater, to prevent further cementing our reputation as a dental desert.
“We know the previous government created chaos in all areas of healthcare, now is the time to act.”
Sign the petition
There are other companies delivering NHS funded dentistry services on the Island who could potentially take on the lease of the practice and TUPE the staff across to the new service provider.
A petition which has been set up to encourage the Health Secretary to intervene to protect the service, collected over 300 signatures in the first two days.
This can be found on the change.org website.
