Staff at Freshwater’s Avenue Road dental practice have been overwhelmed by calls with many being left “in tears”, a dentistry campaigner has said.
Activist Ieuan Jehu has told of how last Friday, staff at the recently saved NHS dentist were “unable” to arrange bookings for patients “suffering with toothache” or “requiring ongoing treatment” due to being rushed off their feet by Islanders demanding to be added to their books.
The tsunami of calls from people trying to register follows an announcement last Thursday from director of primary care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight James Roach’s announcement that there will be an NHS dentist which takes over the Freshwater practice.
On Wednesday, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight announced that a “multi award-winning” and “family-run” NHS dental provider, Denbigh House, will take over the Avenue Road practice after the planned closure of MyDentist on October 31.
Mr Jehu previously started a petition at the end of August, ‘Save My Dentist Freshwater’, which was set up in response to the threatened closure of the Avenue Road clinic.
He has since been in touch with the team who he has said have had a “horrible time”.
The full-time carer said:
“The inability of staff to answer the queries from hundreds of Islanders, has led to much frustration, with many callers responding aggressively and staff feeling threatened by some who have turned up at the practice in person.
“One thing which has been made absolutely clear while campaigning to save our dentist, is that the people who work at the dental practice in Freshwater are much loved by our community.
“What they are going through is stressful enough without being subjected to verbal abuse.
“This episode demonstrates just how badly under-provisioned islanders are when it comes to dentistry services.”
Director of Primary Care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, James Roach, added:
“I’m very pleased that patients will be able to continue to access NHS dentistry from Freshwater.
“I know there has been much concern locally over the future of the practice and we are very grateful for the support from the community while we worked towards a solution.
“While these discussions have been taking place behind the scenes due to their sensitive nature, we are now pleased that we can reassure the community that we have been and will always take steps to ensure a positive solution for patients.
“We know there is more work to do on the Isle of Wight to improve NHS dentistry access and we continue working towards this goal with a plan for the Island.”
Staff at Freshwater’s Avenue Road dental practice have been approached for comment.
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