LONG standing, elderly NHS patients at a local dental practice were 'dismayed and worried' to receive notice that their Carlisle dentist would no longer be providing NHS treatment.

Mydentist, on Victoria Place, Carlisle, said that NHS dentistry was facing ‘unprecedented pressure’ which has forced clinicians to not provide NHS cover.

A self-employed dentist at the practice made the ‘difficult decision’ to stop providing NHS dentistry.

In a letter to patients seen by the News & Star, one of the practice's self-employed dentists wrote: “The decision to make this change has been a difficult one but necessary to allow me to continue to provide a high-quality service.

“This change will allow me to spend more time with my patients, maintaining and improving their dental health, whilst also reducing appointment waiting times.”

The letter also states that “NHS treatment will still be available with other dentists at the practice, although routine and emergency appointments will be available subject to capacity.”

But the change from NHS dentistry to a private plan has been criticised by former city councillor, Elsie Martlew.

“These are weasel words,” she said.

"When I made enquiries at the practice, I was told that this was not possible as there was only dentist that did NHS work, and the list was full.

“There will now be patients unable to afford dental treatment.

“This is the last in a long line of Carlisle practices that have gone private and have stopped taking NHS patients.

“Unfortunately, their reason for abandoning NHS dental services,” continued Elsie, "is because they can no longer afford to carry out the treatment. 

“The real culprit in this debacle is the Conservative Government and their cynical and deliberate policy to underfund the service, knowing full well it will result in the demise of NHS dentistry.

"The failure of this Tory government, which has nearly been in power 13 years, to fund NHS dentistry properly, is a deliberate policy to privatise the national dentistry service.”

A spokesperson for mydentist said: “NHS dentistry is facing unprecedented pressure which, since the pandemic, has resulted in many clinicians choosing to move away from providing NHS treatments.

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“One of our self-employed dentists at our practice at Victoria Place in Carlisle has made the same difficult decision.

“However, we would like to reassure our patients that the practice remains committed to providing NHS care.

“We are doing everything we can to recruit more NHS dentists and we continue to offer affordable private treatments to ensure as many patients as possible can get access to the care they need.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social care said: "This government is committed to improving access to dentistry.

"We have already introduced a range of measures to improve access to NHS dentistry in England and we will soon publish a plan to boost access and improve services further."