The plane is filling up right now
and its bound for Troy, Michigan.

Joel

***

Patients are to lose NHS dentist  

The Welsh assembly is working to improve dental provision
More than 1,000 patients in Flintshire have been told they are to lose
their NHS dentist.
A dental surgeon in Buckley has announced she will be resigning next
month, and no replacement has been found.

The situation is similar to that in many parts of Wales.

Despite efforts by the Welsh assembly government, there remains a
serious shortage of NHS dentists.

Many patients in rural areas are forced to travel miles for subsidised
treatment.

Rachel Armstrong, a dental surgeon based at Padeswood Road in Buckley,
resigns on 25 March.

 Unfortunately there are no dentists in Flintshire currently
accepting NHS patients and this is a problem mirrored both locally and
nationally

Flintshire LHB

Her 1,600 patients will be de-registered from the practice and
Flintshire LHB has written to her patients, explaining the situation.

It is unlikely they will be able to register as NHS patients elsewhere
in the county and there are no vacanies in neighbouring Wrexham and
Denbighshire.

In a statement, the board said that "with much regret", the practice
had been unable to secure a replacement.

"Unfortunately there are no dentists in Flintshire currently accepting
NHS patients and this is a problem mirrored both locally and
nationally," the statement explained.

"Flintshire LHB is actively exploring a number of initiatives to
improve access to dental services, including applying to the Welsh
assembly government to re-designate the Flintshire area, therefore
qualifying for dental incentive grants.


Around 300 patients queued when an NHS practice opened in Carmarthen

"If successful, these grants will assist in the recruitment and
retention of new dentists to Flintshire."

The board has set up a "safety net" dental service for those patients
not registered with an NHS dentist and who require dental pain relief.

Patients can access emergency dental services by telephoning NHS
Direct Wales on 0845 6010128.

Many dental patients across Wales and the UK as a whole have been
affected in similar ways to those in Flintshire.

In one of the worst examples, hundreds of people from across mid and
west Wales were turned away after spending hours queuing to get on the
books of a new NHS dentist in Carmarthen.

Would-be patients started lining the street at 0600 BST on the day the
new surgery opened - after seeing a notice in the local paper saying
the practice would be accepting 300 new NHS patients on a
first-come-first-served basis.

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SEE ALSO:
Dentists abused after queue problem
31 Jul 03 |  Wales
Still no dental care, a year on
28 Jul 04 |  South West Wales
County employs its own dentist
08 Oct 04 |  South West Wales
Cash injection for dentists
06 May 04 |  Wales
Machynlleth loses only dentist
26 Feb 04 |  Mid
Efforts to solve dentist shortage
27 Jan 04 |  Wales

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Welsh assembly
British Dental Association
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