NHS Dentists Not Wanted Here
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- Published: Friday, 08 August 2025 10:12
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 1428
Joined up government has yet to reach Nottinghamshire, where a new dental practice eager to see NHS patients has been told it will not be given a contract, and then ignored by the local Integrated Care Board (ICB). Toothbank Dental Practice will be opening its doors to patients in August 2025 in Beeston, offering private care. However it could have been offering NHS care too, were it not for the ICB.
Practice Director Traceyanne Smith was told at a meeting in March that the new practice would not be given any contracts, and further attempts to contact officials since then had not received a response.
She described the situation to BBC News as "massively frustrating." The reason that was given was that there is deemed to be "no need" for new NHS provision in the area.
As a result of the NHS England decision, the new practice cannot even bid for emergency cover, and further applications have not been acknowledged. The practice has moved into a council-owned property, which had been vacant for several years.
Traceyanne Smith explained: "It’s been massively frustrating. We are really wanting to serve the need in Beeston where there is a massive cry for NHS dentistry. We have realised this in the past few weeks, with people just popping in to see if we can offer them appointments via the NHS. I think it is really important for people to understand that it’s not us that makes that decision, it comes from NHS commissioning.”
It is not just Traceyanne Smith who believes that the ICB have badly let local residents down with their decision.
Local and county councillor Teresa Cullen, who represents the Broxtowe Alliance party, said: "How can they say that there is no need for NHS places in Beeston? I hear from residents every day who are unable to get dental treatment close to home. "I am fighting tooth and nail with the ICB, NHS England, and our MP - I want this resolved."
That need was backed up by Labour MP for Broxtowe Juliet Campbell, who said: "My constituents in Broxtowe, like many others across the country, are experiencing difficulties accessing NHS dentists,” before adding the compulsory rider that this followed, “14 years of failure by the Conservative government.”
"I have already spoken to the ICB to raise the particular requests from Toothbank and that discussions on allocation of ’units of dentist activity’ are in progress," the MP claimed.
A search on the NHS website showed 11 dentists within 2.2 miles of Beeston, however seven were not accepting new NHS patients, three were taking new registrations and one was accepting children only. As GDPUK readers will know, the information on the site is often inaccurate, given the dynamic nature of practice capacity.
A spokesperson for the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB said: "Dental services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are commissioned based on the latest Oral Health Needs Assessment, which looks at data like deprivation levels, access to NHS dentists, travel distances, oral cancer rates, and tooth decay.”
The ICB added "future NHS dental contract opportunities will be announced in line with national rules, so we can’t share details yet to keep the process fair".
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