Routine Appointments Suspended For 10,000 Anglesey Patients
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- Published: Tuesday, 13 February 2024 10:22
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Anglesey. It’s a scenic island. Surrounded by sea, many of its coastal homes have stunning views. It’s steeped in history and is home to some 69,000 residents. It’s also home to a village that boasts the longest name of any in Europe…
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
However, for all the island’s undoubted attractions, one of its largest denal practices has had to place routine dental examinations for its 10,000 patients ’on hold’ because of a shortage of dentists.
According to a report in North Wales Live, Longford Road Dental Practice has e-mailed patients to inform them that routine appointments were being put on hold until further notice. The practice blamed a “shortage of dental practitioners” and said it was working hard to fill vacancies.
“... Due to a shortage of dental practitioners at the moment, our focus will be on completing treatments for patients with ongoing treatment plans and addressing dental emergencies” the email stated. "We are actively seeking new dentist(s) to join our team and we hope to fill this position as soon as possible. We will reassess the situation on a monthly basis. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause".
NHS dental services in Holyhead are commissioned by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB). Ffion Johnstone, BCUHB’s Integrated Health Community Director West, acknowledged that the practice had “short-term staffing issues”.
Her statement reassured patients that Longford Road Dental continued to provide NHS dental services with one dentist, a foundation dentist and three therapists. Additional support was being provided by locum dentists.
One anonymous father told North Wales Live “It’s a good practice with nice people but they have clearly been struggling in recent years,” he said. “They told us they were now down to one dentist for their 10,000 patients. We’ve been booking appointments for our children a year in advance. We’ve also been taking any emergency cancellations we can, even if it means them missing half a day of school because of the long drive.”
More recently, he said the family was being offered check-ups only once every two years because their teeth were in “reasonable condition” – and because there was so much demand. “Now they’ve told us that all routine examinations will be postponed”.
And expressing sentiments that mirrored the pronouncements of BDA spokespeople, the father added “It seems crazy that it’s come to this in a rich, modern country. It is awful to think of all the kids who are going to end up with long-term problems with their teeth because our government has been unable to plan properly for their future."
Three dental practices in Anglesey have either closed or withdrawn NHS services since 2022 according to the report in North Wales Live.
Ms Johnstone reflected that staffing problems were a national phenomenon but added that there were “ambitious plans” to address the crisis at local level. These included the establishment of the North Wales Dental Academy “which will play a leading role in training and upskilling dental professionals across the region.
The Academy’s aim is to drive innovative changes in dental care, linking educational opportunities for dental professionals with improved service provision for patients.”
At a cost of £1.6m, the eight surgery, Bangor based Dental Academy was overwhelmed with in excess of 8000 approaches from patients in the three weeks following its opening in November 2022.
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