CHANGES TO OUR NHS CONTRACT

Posted on 31/03/23

As a result of the terms imposed by the welsh government coupled with the loss of four NHS dentists at Ruabon Road Dental practice, Betsi Cadwaladr has agreed to reduce the practice’s NHS contract by 25% effective from 1st April 2023.
“We have been in continual dialogue with the Health Board to find a solution and losing NHS patients was not the outcome we hoped for. The reality of the situation is that for the safety and wellbeing of our team and our patients, we have no alternative other than to reduce our NHS capacity so we may continue to provide safe and effective dental care to our remaining 8,000 NHS patients” says Suzanne Davies, Practice Manager. "Despite their lists being at full capacity, our current NHS dentists have kindly agreed to treat children under the age of 18 years that were under the leaving dentists' lists to ensure they receive continuous NHS care". The adult patients affected by the change have been contacted in writing and the options available to them have been explained. "We would love to be able to retain all of our patients that have benefitted from NHS care and been customers of ours for many years. However, due to regulations set out by NHS Wales, we cannot choose the patients that we keep or lose based on how long they have been with us or any other selection criteria. We are obliged to remove the patients that were under our departed NHS dentists' lists and of the dentists that have reduced their contracts". Ruabon Road Dental Practice has also notified 670 people currently on their NHS wait list that they will not be in a position to invite them for an initial assessment for at least 12 months. Clinical Director Dan Naylor adds “We remain committed to our patients and continue our campaign to recruit more NHS dentists so we can hopefully welcome patients back in the future. We pride ourselves in our transparency and will continue to keep our community informed of any changes”.