Viral Bristol dentists still working through waiting list
St Pauls Dental Practice drew national attention when it reopened in February
A Bristol dental surgery that drew national attention in February when hundreds queued up to register for care, says it is still working through a waiting list of new patients.
St Pauls Dental Practice reopened on 5th February following a campaign to save it by residents, having been threatened with permanent closure.
When it did so, hundreds queued around the block outside to register for treatment.
James was waiting for over two hours.
"It's a sign of broken Britain," he said.
"I came an hour early to be careful but I thought it would just be in an and out - it's just unbelievable!"
Another man said he hasn't had a dentist for five years.
"Is Taylor Swift in there?," he asked.
"It's like I'm waiting at Alton Towers."
Eventually to avoid such a scene the practice set up an email registration system and two months on, staff tell Forth 1 that they are still working through the sign ups.
Commenting at the time of the queues Prett Gill, the Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health said in a statement: "These queues lays bare the state of dentistry after 14 years of the Conservatives.
"99 per cent of dentists across the South West aren't accepting any new adult patients.
“The consequences for patients are dire. Last year, there were more than 1,000 dental emergencies in Bristol alone."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are making progress to boost NHS dental services, with 23% more treatments delivered last year compared to the previous year, and 1.7 million extra adults and 800,000 more children receiving NHS dental care.
“We back NHS dentistry with £3 billion of funding every year, and recently announced plans to increase dental training places by 40% as part of the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan."
Since 5th February the government has published a Dental Recovery Plan.
As part of the plan dentists will be offered a bonus to accept more NHS patients, which it's claimed will create 2.5 million new appointments in the next year.
So called "golden hello" cash incentives will also be offered to dentists who chose to work in under-served areas.
You can find out more about the plan here.