By Mal Butler
A petition to protest against the closure of a dental practice in Freshwater has attracted more than 700 signatures in just a few days.
The mydentist surgery, in Avenue Road, is due to close at the end of October, leaving more than 4,000 people (NHS and private) without dental provision in the West Wight. The other two private dental practices in Yarmouth and Freshwater are understood to be full, so there will be no provision locally for many people.
Ieuan Jehu, from Totland, who organised the petition, said: “Staff at mydentist in Freshwater have been given notice that they will be made redundant in October, as the UK’s largest dental chain continues their withdrawal from the Island. This follows the closure of the group’s Newport surgery at the beginning of the year.
“Almost half of Island adults will now be unable to access NHS dental services and a significant number of Islanders are living in constant pain as a direct result of being unable to access an NHS dentist.
“It is not staffing issues which are the cause of the threatened closure of the dental practice in Freshwater. The practice is well staffed, with three qualified dental nurses, two support staff and two self-employed dentists. Together they treat thousands of patients, but the mydentist group are no longer interested in the small village practices our communities require.
“Going forward a new organisation will need to be found to step in.”
Healthwatch Isle of Wight says that, over the past 18 months, the Island has lost five NHS dental practices, leading to a huge reduction in dental care available to Island residents with more people resorting to ‘do it yourself’ dentistry.
Island manager for the health watchdog, Joanna Smith, said: “We have been working tirelessly with dental commissioners to highlight people’s concerns, but more needs to be done to reduce the inequality that exists, particularly for Islanders where access is amongst the poorest in the region.
“We are very grateful to all those who have contacted us to share their experiences, which has given us the evidence to highlight these serious issues both locally and nationally.
“We would urge commissioners to provide more support to Island NHS dental providers, and to recognise the profound impact a lack of dentists is having on people’s physical, emotional and financial well-being.”
Wight Wight MP, Richard Quigley, has written to Stephen Kinnock, the new minister responsible for dentistry, to ask for help in solving the IW problem with NHS dentistry.
You can sign the petition via iw.observer/dentist-petition.
Isle of Wight Observer