Long queues as dentist offers NHS places

A Lincolnshire dentist saw long queues outside its practice after it announced on social media it was taking on NHS patents.

Staff at the Broadway Dental Surgery in Woodhall Spa handed out more than 150 registration forms when the doors opened on Wednesday morning.

One potential patient was Carl Tyrrell who said he had been looking for an NHS dentist for more than seven years.

He said he had to have a tooth extracted last week by an emergency NHS dentist in Lincoln.

"Hopefully it's great, that I can get a place finally and can get mine and my family’s teeth sorted," he said.

Samantha, who was queuing with her two small children, said she had been without a dentist for almost a decade.

"I was pregnant and then Covid hit and then couldn’t get the free NHS dentistry you get when you are pregnant and there’s backlog after Covid and it’s been horrendous," she said.

"Well finally, I won’t have toothache, so fingers crossed we can get it sorted nice and quickly."

The practice said it had patients from a wide area, including Cleethorpes and London.

Head nurse Catherine Macintosh said the practice wanted to "accommodate everyone and give them the care they need".

"We don’t like to hear the stories of people having to do dentistry at home or people in pain," she said.

"So, we appreciate when we do get this opportunity to have some capacity to help patients and get new NHS patients on it is going to be big uptake."

The latest NHS Dental Statistics Annual Report found Lincolnshire only had 38 dentists per 100,000 population, the lowest ratio in the Midlands and the third lowest in England.

The BBC has contacted the NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board for a response.

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