My parents had a letter today from the Regency dental practice Swanage telling us that they are no longer going to be serving NHS patients and we need to pay a private subscription + costs for each visit. It seems that the nearest NHS dentist now who are taking on new patients are either in Dorchester or Weymouth. The ones in Poole and Bournemouth who are showing as taking on NHS work are saying they are full. Shouldn’t a town the size of Swanage have at least one NHS dentist so the people who cant get to Dorchester or Weymouth can get dental treatment without being ripped off after years of paying tax for the NHS ?
Posted by Local Resident to swanageview at 7/1/12 10:00 PM
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I agree. When I first moved to Swanage I could not get a National Health dentist here. I registered with a National Health dentist in Eastbourne, where my parents lived. It was cheaper to pay to travel to Eastbourne than it was to pay for private treatment here.Dental treatment is quite expensive even on the National Health Service. Many people have not got enough money to pay for private treatment. In the long run tooth decay will cause serious medical problems and will cost the National Health Service a lot of money.
What does a private check up cost? How much for a filling?
Our so called government is an utter disgrace. Here's another service to be withdrawn for our needs and the needs of our children. Terrible :(
I always go to Wareham, but it's my understanding that both places there have NO more spaces.
Lack of NHS dentistry is a national disgrace and the absence of any new provision within a 20 mile radius of Swanage is simply unaccetptable. I feel another - fully justified - campaign coming along. Let's try and reverse this decline!
Our so called government is an utter disgrace. Here's another service to be withdrawn for our needs and the needs of our children. Terrible :(
Which govt: caused this david?
Every time a Minister is being questioned they always prefix their answer with 'What we inherited from the last Labour government etc. etc.' I can understand this excuse being used in the first few weeks of a change of Government but it becomes a bit annoying after 18 months. Quite right Dino, in fact the Tories will use this excuse every time they are questioned or do not have an answer to a problem and they will still be doing it in 10 years time if we let them. Of course only the gullible or die hard Tory supporters will actually believe it. Just as they do not believe that the WORLD is in recession, not just Britain. They blame everything on Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Labour in general, often referring to the past Labour administration and how the Tories had to sort out the mess they left behind! Well it may have been true to an extent of the previous Labour government, but the last Labour government are being blamed for something they did not actually do. America and in particular G W Bush had a great deal to do with the state of the world economy today. He let people borrow well beyond their means and allowed the American banks to gamble with money and then bailed them out using tax payers money. Our bankers followed suit and Gordon saved them from the brink and in doing so saved the ordinary man on the street his job, investments, insurances, mortgages and hard earned cash.
The fact is that Britain was actually poised to come out of recession and was beginning to show a small but significant growth in the economy just at the time of the last election. The Tory led coalition then took over and since then we have further declined and growth in the economy has flat lined. Worse still, there are now far more unemployed, less businesses and higher inflation and nan increase in VAT. And despite all the rhetoric from this government, they are spending more now than the last Labour government did. Not surprisingly this is because of all the extra unemployment benefits and other benefits being paid out as a result of the higher unemployment figures. They can blame Labour all they like, but the people of this country can see that things have not got any better since they came to power, in fact they have got a lot worse. Millions are now so much in debt that they are using their credit cards to buy food. Where will it all end I wonder?
I would like to keep politics out of this debate. It is clear that our National Health Service is not working properly for dentistry. We could look to other European countries for ideas. In Germany the Government provides patients with between 20% and 70% of the cost of treatment. The Netherlands have a system of insurance for dental treatment in which the insurance companies are not allowed to refuse to insure anyone and cannot make a profit out of their dental insurance.
typical furmage rants on again! so a govt: is in power for 18 months corrects all the wrongs from a previous administration in a short time all work done lets have an election. The lab govt also allowed the doctors to opt out of weekend working and gave them large contracts, the previous govt; furmage not this one. I assume you are employed and not fleecing the tax credit system, if you are you have right contracts of employment, if a new boss come along the cannot change it at a whim, you would be the 1st to moan. its the same with the NHS. Again this forum is subject to a Furmage rant! what next your father writing from abroad to the local press!. And yes Robin it is a disgrace. we have to travel to poole a 45 mile round trip.
The (any) Government should ensure everyone has access to an NHS dentist. Dont forget to write to your MP, PM local media etc. The Government needs to be embarrassed into action. And shame on the local NHS administrators for allowing this to happen. Some of the money wasted on PCTs etc could pay for a dentist.
The (any) Government should ensure everyone has access to an NHS dentist. Dont forget to write to your MP, PM local media etc. The Government needs to be embarrassed into action. And shame on the local NHS administrators for allowing this to happen. Some of the money wasted on PCTs etc could pay for a dentist.
Im in agreement I spoke to mr Drax on more than one occasion about lots of things that concerned me and my family. he acknowledged this prob, but as I said they cannot put all the ills right at once. What irks me is a certain poster who gets on here and we are subject to a long rant and he has not even got his facts correct. But I agrre we as swanage residents should push this along a bit.
If you are forced to go private, consider a dental insurance policy.
The only good thins is that you will be able to shop around for the best dentist rather than take whatever is laid on for you.
Perhaps the residents of Swanage should petition their MP for a reduction in NHS contributions, since the NHS cannot provide this service?
We have added an e-petition to http://www.virtual-swanage.co.uk/petition/ which will be sent to our local MP to show there is a need for NHS dentists in Purbeck, please add your name if possible
typical furmage rants on again! so a govt: is in power for 18 months corrects all the wrongs from a previous administration in a short time all work done lets have an election. The lab govt also allowed the doctors to opt out of weekend working and gave them large contracts, the previous govt; furmage not this one. I assume you are employed and not fleecing the tax credit system, if you are you have right contracts of employment, if a new boss come along the cannot change it at a whim, you would be the 1st to moan. its the same with the NHS. Again this forum is subject to a Furmage rant! what next your father writing from abroad to the local press!. And yes Robin it is a disgrace. we have to travel to poole a 45 mile round trip.
Silly troll and bringing his father into your opinion . There's no surprise
I'm not sure about this, if you need your hair cut the NHS wont do if for you.
However the old system seemed fine to me. Why has Dr Thomas wanted to change it?
I phoned the dentist in swanage for five years to try and become an nhs patient, but always told to try again in 3 - 6 months.I asked why they didn't have a waiting list and was told it was too complicated.So as far as I could gather you could turn up tomorrow and get taken on if you were lucky enough to catch them when they had a vacancy.
Dental insurance is required if yoiu go private but is otherwise a waste of money as it usually only covers you for things like a direct blow to the mouth.
Silly troll and bringing his father into your opinion . There's no surprise
8/1/12 5:44 PM
Not trolling just correcting (yet again) furmages incorrect facts. this problem has been about for years (over 8 I think) so why blame this current govt: then go on and rant about recession banks ect ect. He keeps doing it on every damn thread.
The reason I mentoned his father was a tongue in cheek comment he did write to the gazzette recently from I beleive Belgium?
This thread is about lack of NHS dentist in the area not about recesions, banks,unemployment and VAT.
We have added an e-petition to http://www.virtual-swanage.co.uk/petition/ which will be sent to our local MP to show there is a need for NHS dentists in Purbeck, please add your name if possible
thanks :)
Sign the petition. The problem is not just in Swanage; it is nationwide. Nor is it new. It has just arrived in Swanage.
The bottom line is this: dentists can make more in private practice than in the NHS, and can deliver a higher standard of care - IF the patient can afford it. Also, there has been for many years a shortage of dentists in the UK.
I have heard of foreigners traveling to the UK to take advantage of the NHS medical care. Never have I heard of anyone traveling here to take advantage of NHS dentist care.
Perhaps somehow has such a story?
re: 8/1/12 12:22 PM
David, David, David.....
I like you; really I do; but your little rant is so inaccurate that it really doesn't deserve to be challenged line by line. So I won't. I am a little mystified why you felt a need to include it here, as it does not relate directly to the subject in question.
Hence, it can be ignored. In any event, this problem cannot be solved by blaming the past; it is the future that is important.
This
Perhaps the residents of Swanage should petition their MP for a reduction in NHS contributions, since the NHS cannot provide this service?
and this seem to be the most sensible suggestions.
We have added an e-petition to http://www.virtual-swanage.co.uk/petition/ which will be sent to our local MP to show there is a need for NHS dentists in Purbeck, please add your name if possible
What will be taken away next..????
'What will be taken away next..????'
Library? The police station? Swanage Hospital?
However you slice or dice it, Swanage is getting hard hit by various government bodies.
I really want to support the new school, but I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that the government will 'reconsider'. School around the county found this out a year or so ago when government money, long promised, was reneged upon.
We must remain vigilant about these matters....
I sincerely apologise for my last post , think I was in the wrong meeting:( yep my Dad does live in Belgium though he was writing in about a service that has been cut already , which is the charging of kids to get to school. Though lots of people not from this area write into the local paper.
Anyway these cuts whoever is in charge are going to happen which is a shame , though I feel the hospitals will been inundated and be under more pressure as people seek to get their treatment done there. Also traveling to Dorchester , Weymouth , Eastbourne to get NHS treatment is along way and expensive aswell. I forsee the NHS getting privatised , though who gets charged for what is a tough call to make.
P's. Why a troll?
I have written a letter to the Bournemouth Echo and contacted BBC Radio Solent. Radio Solent is going to send a reporter to interview me at 07:00 tomorrow. I need to find out how much more people will need to pay under Denplan Essentials than under the NHS. Can anyone help?
Robin , here's a link to denplan website it might help
http://www.denplan.co.uk/
http://www.denplan.co.uk/patients/new/pricing-examples.aspx
Seems from this that minimum cost for two basic check ups and one hygienist visit per year would be £11.95 per month, with cost of fillings/treatment on top.
Also this is a link to every private dentist in Dorset and it gives their fees aswell , might come in handy:)
http://www.whatclinic.com/dentists/uk/dorset
I have written a letter to the Bournemouth Echo and contacted BBC Radio Solent. Radio Solent is going to send a reporter to interview me at 07:00 tomorrow. I need to find out how much more people will need to pay under Denplan Essentials than under the NHS. Can anyone help?
Well done, and good luck.
" http://www.denplan.co.uk/patients/new/pricing-examples.aspx
Seems from this that minimum cost for two basic check ups and one hygienist visit per year would be £11.95 per month, with cost of fillings/treatment on top. "
And if the service is too be withdrawn from Wareham , fuel costs would be added to the fees and with fuel to go up aswell. :(
I emailed NHS Dorset regarding the situation here in Swanage and got this response:
"Thank you for your email which has been passed to the Patient Advice & Liaison Service to respond.
The Trust are aware of the difficulties being experienced by patients within Swanage with the announcement that the Regency Dental Practice will cease to have an NHS contract from 31 March 2012. The Dorset Dental Helpline (01202 854443) will provide information on which NHS dentists within Dorset have their NHS lists open and also provide emergency dental appointments for patients in need of treatment but not registered with a dental practice.
The Trust is also in the process of commencing a re-procurement of further dental practices to provide an NHS service within the Swanage and Wareham areas."
The thing is one NHS dentist in the town isn't going to help much. Given Swanage has about 10,000 people (ok, not all would want/need and NHS dentist) and each person needs a check up every six months then we'd arguably need a whole practice.
How about a joint Wareham/Swanage/Purbeck NHS practice up at Worgret, alongside a lovely big supermarket with cheap petrol?
There's a thought - if Tesco/Sainsbury's offers a 25 year lease at a peppercorn rent for a joint NHS practice as part of their development, would that sway public opinion and the planners that we really DO need this?
Just a quick W&D bus ride away....
Looks like one examinationn and a scale and polish a year under the NHS costs £17 under Denplan will rise to £84 and that for me with relatively healthy chops.
http://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Healthcosts/pages/Dentalcosts.aspx
£84 for a check up and polish cant be much more just to pay for it outright can it.
I had a scale and polish there a while ago outside of my NHS work and they charged me £25.
Can someone pick up a price list if they are passing?
How about a joint Wareham/Swanage/Purbeck NHS practice up at Worgret, alongside a lovely big supermarket with cheap petrol?
There's a thought - if Tesco/Sainsbury's offers a 25 year lease at a peppercorn rent for a joint NHS practice as part of their development, would that sway public opinion and the planners that we really DO need this?
Just a quick W&D bus ride away....
Amazing idea.
Dentists could recommend patients the supermarkets own brand toothpaste etc etc as well
Dentists in supermarkets seem to be more common in the USA, however, Sainsburys opened the first in the UK in 2008. Boots also has at least one. Here is a website for a firm that also runs some
http://www.instoredental.co.uk/
Perhaps this is something the Co-op should look into but, for preference, employing an NHS dentist. You could also ask why the medical practice here does not include dentistry.
I have never encountered a dentist in an American supermarket or a Walmart; I have seen many in strip malls next to or near supermarekts, however.
The difference isn't in where they are sited; it is one of finding a dentist. The UK simply does not have enough to fill both private, and especially, NHS care.
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4d4ff6ffccd1d51306020000-898-368/dentists-brazil.jpg
Before the last election the Conservatives promised that one million people who have been unable to register with NHS dentists will have their access restored. Now the time has come for them to keep their promise.
Who is coming to the Mowlem at 2pm? Why is their nothing about this in the local papers and on the Gazette web site?
Governments make promises during elections they can never keep. I learned quite some time ago to take these promises with a large heap of scepticism.
One million provided with NHS dental care? How, when there are not the dentists available or willing to do this? Point a gun at their head? Pay them more (when everywhere is seeing cutbacks)?
Sorry - I rate that promise as 'Pants on Fire'.
Can someone give details of meeting at the Mowlem?
Friday 13th January at 2pm at the Mowlem. A local paper wants a story and a photo shoot of Amanda Mason who has got over 300 signatures on her paper petition. She has not said whether it is in the committee room, theatre or outside but she wants people to come and support her.
There is still nothing in the Gazette website or in the Daily Echo so lots of local people do not know anything about Swanage loosing its NHS dentist.
The photo shoot and meeting will be outside the Mowlem on the sea front.
How about a joint Wareham/Swanage/Purbeck NHS practice up at Worgret, alongside a lovely big supermarket with cheap petrol?
That would be a bit silly, Whim!!
So you wish for the outcome to be that all the small shops, and petrol stations in Swanage and Wareham close. Great thinking silly whim!
'So you wish for the outcome to be that all the small shops, and petrol stations in Swanage and Wareham close. Great thinking silly whim!'
If those businesses are uncompetitive and cannot offer the range of goods and services, then, yes. Obviously.
It is called the free market.
"It is called the free market."
Which is why the free market is not the unalloyed blessing you may think it is. It may deliver the greatest return to the shaeholders but that does not mean the outcome for the rest of us is optimal by any means.
not surprised that there is no mention of the petition photoshoot in the local rags, lots of stuff that is important to swanage residents doesnt get reported, some kind of cencorship going on here? when for instance did you last see any debates or discusions in the locals during election times. we are being denied important information on lots of issues.
There is not a great deal of political news to report in Swanage. What did you have in mind. I imagine the local publications get a lot of "disgusted of Tonbridge Wells" stuff and unprintable right wing rantings rather than serious discussion of issues.
'Which is why the free market is not the unalloyed blessing you may think it is. It may deliver the greatest return to the shaeholders but that does not mean the outcome for the rest of us is optimal by any means.'
Well, that is how the real world works.
Thats defeatism.
Sending children up chimneys and women down mines used to be how the real world works. Slavery was how the free market operated in the real world until the woolly headed idealists made too much of a fuss about it. Banks going on an orgy of lending to people and governments which could never serviced, much less repaid, is how the world operates now. It is not always as rational as you would think or like, or do you see the sub-prime debacle, the Greek debt crisis etc as merely little bumps on the great way forward.
8.37
Good Lord! Do you partake in amateur theatricals? Talk about absurd hyperbole!
Equating sound business competition with Dickensian abuse of children is, well, silly.
The Workers' Revolution is over, comrade. Even Miliband won't buy into it.
You may find a copy of
...the Morning Star at the Co-op. There is usually one there on sale every day.
I had an appointment Monday for a check up.
I had heard nothing about this topic at all, the place was heaving with patients and white paper the sign on the dotted line sort,
I was told they had three staff on the premised just to talk patients through the paper work to sign up.
I was told to hurry up and make my mind up as it was on a first come first served system.
When I finally got to see the dentist he told me funding had been withdraw, whether we believe that or not remains an open question.
As for mailing our MP forget it I have seven auto mail from the house of commons stating my MP will get back to me never has he answered one of my mails this was on a totally different topic to this one.
I signed that petition in the supermarket I was talking to customers and staff and not one of us knew or said anything about a meeting today as usual we find out after the deed when nothing can be done.
When I finally got to see the dentist he told me funding had been withdraw
Does anyone have evidence of this? This is the smoking gun you need....
"Equating sound business competition with Dickensian abuse of children is, well, silly."
In any form of competition the winners spin their story to show themselves possessed of whatever virtues happen to be well regarded at the time. That does not mean, of course, that there is more than the smallest sliver of truth in their claims. If a society makes a virtue of competition then those who do well will say it is because they are good at competition. It is simply a sort of advertising claim.
Anyway I hear that Swanage and Wareham will have new NHS dentists in March though I feel this is another conservative promise that will not be kept , just like the rest of their fake promises .
Is someone round here descended from the late lamented Dr Pangloss? If they did not already live inthe best of all possible worlds they would set up a Pangloss society to keep his memory alive, but since they do there is no need. The unitiated may need to google for Pangloss.
You may be right about censureship. The Echo has not printed my letter about NHS dentists and the Gazette has got nothing about it on their website. The Advertiser did a photo shoot on Friday and Meridian TV are going to do some filming outside Kays at 10:30 on Monday. We will get a larger NHS practice in Swanage in 6-9 months time. Meanwhile if you get toothache get a filling in Hungary for £10. It will cost at least ten times as much in Swanage. Why have only 266 people signed the online petition when over 1,000 people have signed Amanda's paper petition? I have asked Richard Drax (Count Dracula) why his party promised to give 1 million people access to National Health Dentistry who did not have it before the election yet 10,000 people who had access before the election are being denied access now.
Well did a bit for Meridian news in Kays. Well done to all the others who have put in alot of hard work to get this situation sorted.
What shocked me was not 1 councillor was there to support this or give their opinion :(
'What shocked me was not 1 councillor was there to support this or give their opinion :('
That is shocking, but not entirely surprising. Was the Town Clerk there? Anyone representing the Town Hall?
Nope , no one at all:(
I guess they were all at work.
Did anyone invite them or at lease make sure they were aware?
Meridian Television did a good job tonight (Tues 24 Jan). Kimmy did well. Meridian only broadcasted a fraction of what they recorded. The chap from the Senior Forum made some excellent points which Meridian omitted and it edited out Amanda Mason's interview completely although she spoke very well.
If anyone missed here is the link
http://www.itv.com/meridian-west/no-nhs-dentist66313/
Hello,
Our so called government is an utter disgrace. Here's another service to be withdrawn for our needs and the needs of our children.
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Thank you for this I've been looking around for an emergency dentist in Barrie and this blog was really useful to me.
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