Ben Howlett, the Member of Parliament for Bath, recently visited Bath Orthodontics on Sydney Road and was shocked at the severity of the issue of “no shows” for NHS dental appointments.
On one day Bath Orthodontics had 61% of patients not show for appointments.
Further research has found that Circus Orthodontics experience similar figures.
Ben has therefore written to the Chief Executive of the General Dental Council to see what steps are being taken to address this waste of NHS funds.
Ben said: “Dental hygiene is not to be under estimated, and we are fortunate here in Bath to have good NHS provision.
“It is therefore essential that constituents keep their appointments. Not attending prevents others from having an appointment, as well as wasting valuable resources with dentists time not being fully booked, and additional resource being taken in rebooking.
“I very much hope Bath residents will do their utmost to attend dental appointments in the future and let the practice know in advance if they are unable to attend.”
