Yahoo News Petition launched after Waltham Dentist loses NHS contract after 50 years
A petition has been launched against the loss of an NHS contract for a village dental practice.
Earlier this month, Grimsby Live reported on Waltham Dentist Practice having its NHS contract terminated after 50 years. The practice said the Covid-19 pandemic meant it missed contract demands, along with a shortage of staff in the area.
It sought to reassure customers, including that it will give free check-ups to under fives and try to keep costs down as much as possible despite the contract loss. It has now launched a petition and a formal appeal against the decision, and two local MPs are getting involved too.
Brigg and Immingham MP Martin Vickers, whose constituency the dentistry lies in, has met with the practice and submitted a statement to support its contract appeal. Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes MP Melanie Onn has acknowledged contact from "quite a lot of constituents" and is "very concerned" about how the loss will affect residents. She has tabled a written question in Parliament about the contract.
Assistant manager Mandy Jones has launched an online petition via Change.org for the surgery to keep the NHS contract. She also confirmed there is an in-house petition for people to sign in-person at the practice.
Ms Jones said it is appealing the decision to terminate the NHS contract. Mr Vickers had submitted a statement for the appeal, and it was in contact with the British Dental Association. "We're trying to get everything together for our appeal to send across."
Mr Vickers said: "Following the announcement by the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) to terminate the contract to provide NHS treatments by Waltham Dental Practice I have been working with the practice and have made representations to the ICB to reconsider.
He visited the surgery on Friday and added, "it is quite clear that they want to continue as an NHS dental practice and the ICB should be putting the interests of patients first and redoubling their efforts to resolve the contractual issues whilst still allowing the Practice to provide, at the very least emergency treatment."
Addressed to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, Ms Onn's written question asks, "for what reason his Department withdrew the NHS contract from the Waltham Dentist Practice; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that withdrawal on the provision of NHS dental appointments". A response is due by November 26.
Humber and North Yorkshire ICB made the decision. It has said "it would not be appropriate to go into detail", but did not take the decision lightly.
"Given the national and regional shortage of NHS dentistry, we appreciate the impact this decision will have on patients. We are engaging with other dental practices in the area to find solutions for NHS patients to access treatment with alternative providers. Patients will be informed as soon as details are confirmed." It added for anyone to contact NHS111 for urgent dental need.
In a previous statement, a Waltham Dentist Practice spokesperson explained pandemic lockdown, cancellations and shortage of available staff meant it missed targets. This obliged it to return a significant proportion of payments from NHS England.
Its solicitor and the NHS commissioning team had agreed on a repayment schedule, their spokesperson said. Despite this, on November 1, it got an email from the Yorkshire and Humber dental commissioning team "informing us simply that they prefer to terminate our NHS contracts and begin reclaiming the payments immediately."
Contacted for comment given Ms Onn's question to the Health Secretary, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government is committed to rebuilding NHS dentistry, but it will take time.
"We will start with an extra 700,000 urgent dentistry appointments to help those who need it most, and reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients. Prevention is better than cure, so we will also introduce supervised tooth brushing for three to five-year-olds."
