Dear Editor,
Since moving to Ferryhill back in 2003, my wife and I have been on the register of Burgess and Hyder dental surgery.
B&H have recently been taken over by a company called West Mount who have practices across the north east.
This has not been an easy changeover for us; several attempts to get a regular six-monthly check up have proved fruitless with several excuses culminating in being told that all the dentists but one had left the Ferryhill practice and it will no longer take NHS patients.
I recently received an email telling me that my six-monthly check up was overdue. How could that be? I went into the dental surgery and explained why the appointment was overdue and that we had received no information from West Mount at that point.
I was then informed that the new West Mount practice would not be taking on any NHS patients, and anyone who required treatment would have to be signed up to their Dental Plans.
The basic plan costs £19.99 per month for two check ups per year, gum treatment and scale and polish.
I somewhat naively asked if that included fillings and extractions.
“NO,” came the reply, “but you will get 10% off the price of a filling if you’re on their Dental Plan!”
So how much does a filling cost (as on the NHS you move onto band 2 charges which is about £60)?
“It depends on the size of the filling you need!”
They said that they would honour my final NHS appointment but then I would have to sign up. I made my appointment and left.
When a letter from the practice finally arrived, I have to say I found the wording of the enclosed leaflet quite intimidating, as they tell you that they will only be taking on 70% of B&H’s customer base so we were urged “to act quickly to avoid missing out!”
So what happens to the other 30%? Where are they supposed to go? I wonder how many people in Ferryhill and Chilton are aware of this proposed change?
Last week I had a check up and was informed that it would be my last unless I signed up to the private scheme.
I was seen by a dentist who is totally against the private scheme and totally supports the NHS. He also said that there were murmurings about an NHS-based facility starting up somewhere near Aycliffe in the future but this was only ‘in the pipeline‘.
He told me that Burgess & Hyder were going to be taken over by a company called Dentex as a larger group. Dentex were then supposed to be in a merger with a company called Portman.
At some point, the NHS stepped in and decided that such a takeover would be looked on unfavourably by the Monopolies Commission and blocked the move.
Then West Mount came along and bought B&H and declared it would be private plans only.
But why doesn’t that worry the NHS in regard to a monopoly?
Yours sincerely,
Name and address supplied.
Editor’s note: If you have any concerns about NHS dental services in the local area, we would like to hear from you. Contact us by email at chapter[@]swd[.]news.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
