Residents bare teeth over dentist closure (From This Is Local London)

Residents bare teeth over dentist closure

8:40am Friday 30th January 2009

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RESIDENTS of Enfield Island Village say they have been left in the dark over the closure of their dentist.

The Dental Access Centre in James Lee Square, Enfield Island Centre Way, is set to close this month and will be replaced later this year with another practice.

But it is unknown when the new surgery will open and residents could be left for months without care.

The centre serves people from Barnet, Haringey and Enfield and has been open since 2001, only providing NHS treatment.

The PCT says it was established for urgent treatment for people who were unable to register with an NHS dentist. Tony Thake, chairman of Enfield Island Village Residents' Association, said many people used the centre for routine care.

"Pretty much everyone in the village uses it," he said.

"There was no consultation, just like with Chase Farm. We knew nothing at all about this. Their staff there don't know what is happening beyond February.

"My problem with it is the uncertainty and even if the PCT keep it going they are not going to have as many patients because people will go and get treatment elsewhere."

A PCT spokesman stressed that the new centre would provide a better level of service than the existing one. She said: "The service people will get there will be better because at the moment it is just an urgent treatment centre but in the future there will be more appointments and general dentistry.

"All dentists are now contracted to provide slots for patients requiring urgent treatment. As a result the number of patients being seen in the Dental Access Centres has fallen considerably and as a result the PCT, in line other PCTs, has taken the decision to disinvest in them, with the agreement of the service, and the PCT will re-invest the funds into a new centre.

"The PCT has already received some expressions of interest from dentists willing to provide this service."

She added that the PCT had written to all residents and would be happy to go to a residents' association meeting to discuss the issue and address residents’ concerns.

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