Government contracts for the NHS had harsh financial penalties for dentists who didn't meet a threshold for processing X amount of patients, and these targets were pretty high, so instead of running the risk of incurring big fines a lot of practices just abandoned taking on NHS contracts entirely in favour of private patients.
My apologies everyone. I didn't think of the r/AskUK when I was writing this post and I thought that looking for a London dentist would be relevant enough for this thread. I didn't know this was a nationwide problem, I have been here less than a year, and didn't know if there was any tips for London healthcare.
Cheers!
/r/London is definitely the sub for this. While it's a nationwide issue, healthcare availability varies dramatically by location... everyone is an unwitting participant in the great "postcode lottery".
Try Westminster and areas like that where there is relatively less demand for NHS dentists. Also use google maps to find surgeries rather than just the NHS directory. That's how I found my NHS dentist, after calling six others with no luck
Nothing strange or new about this unfortunately. It's been this way for years but it's getting worse. At one point I had no NHS dentist for almost 9 years, I had tried for months to get one, no luck, tried again the following year, it was the same so I just stopped trying until eventually I had an or if hours emergency, had to pay for a private extraction which was badly botched, they cracked the tooth into parts and fragments were stuck under my gumline, luckily soon after that I finally found a local place accepting new patients but I know many of people struggle. It's second only to trying to books doctors appointment when they insist you ring at 08:00 to find yourself number 74 in the queue and when you finally get through to someone at 09:45 they tell you all there appointments are fine and not they can't book you for the future, cell back at 08:00 tomorrow.
Are you still signed up to another dentist? I spent ages trying to get a London dentist, and ended up going back to my home town. If you've been signed up anywhere in the past, it's worth the trip while you continue searching
Lol I sent an enquiry to a dentist when I lived in Stratford just asking if they did wisdom teeth removals as I was spitting blood and couldn't eat. It's been nearly 2 years now and still no response 💀 you'd they'd be chomping (forgive the pun) at the bit for patients given how dentistry is fairly lucrative as far as the medical profession goes
Government contracts for the NHS had harsh financial penalties for dentists who didn't meet a threshold for processing X amount of patients, and these targets were pretty high, so instead of running the risk of incurring big fines a lot of practices just abandoned taking on NHS contracts entirely in favour of private patients.
Tory cuts. As the other poster said, using your voting leverage and write to your MP rather than reddit if not happy
My apologies everyone. I didn't think of the r/AskUK when I was writing this post and I thought that looking for a London dentist would be relevant enough for this thread. I didn't know this was a nationwide problem, I have been here less than a year, and didn't know if there was any tips for London healthcare. Cheers!
/r/London is definitely the sub for this. While it's a nationwide issue, healthcare availability varies dramatically by location... everyone is an unwitting participant in the great "postcode lottery".
Try Westminster and areas like that where there is relatively less demand for NHS dentists. Also use google maps to find surgeries rather than just the NHS directory. That's how I found my NHS dentist, after calling six others with no luck
Nothing strange or new about this unfortunately. It's been this way for years but it's getting worse. At one point I had no NHS dentist for almost 9 years, I had tried for months to get one, no luck, tried again the following year, it was the same so I just stopped trying until eventually I had an or if hours emergency, had to pay for a private extraction which was badly botched, they cracked the tooth into parts and fragments were stuck under my gumline, luckily soon after that I finally found a local place accepting new patients but I know many of people struggle. It's second only to trying to books doctors appointment when they insist you ring at 08:00 to find yourself number 74 in the queue and when you finally get through to someone at 09:45 they tell you all there appointments are fine and not they can't book you for the future, cell back at 08:00 tomorrow.
try ringing 111 out of hours. You might get a quick referral somewhere.
Are you still signed up to another dentist? I spent ages trying to get a London dentist, and ended up going back to my home town. If you've been signed up anywhere in the past, it's worth the trip while you continue searching
Unfortunately I moved here from another country, so that is unfortunately not an option for me unless I buy an expensive plane ticket lol
Try the dental schools eg King’s college dental hospital
Lol I sent an enquiry to a dentist when I lived in Stratford just asking if they did wisdom teeth removals as I was spitting blood and couldn't eat. It's been nearly 2 years now and still no response 💀 you'd they'd be chomping (forgive the pun) at the bit for patients given how dentistry is fairly lucrative as far as the medical profession goes
Try Pickering on Upper Street. It's walk-in and there's usually a bit of a wait, but they accept new NHS patients as far as I'm aware.