I asked 31 dentists in Manchester for an NHS slot - only one said "yes"

I was shocked at how many dentists simply aren’t taking on any NHS patients. Out of all 31 dentists within 3.5 miles of my home, only one of them said that they would take my details down to be processed for becoming an NHS patient.

Most other dentists stated that they had a waiting list of 1-3 years, didn’t answer at all or said that they were only accepting private patients

Why aren’t dentists taking on new NHS patients?

According to My Tribe, there are several reasons why so few dentists are taking on NHS patients.

They said: “Fundamentally, it comes down to the cost of providing those services, government underfunding, and lack of qualified dentists.”

Adding: “NHS dental care is a service provided by (mainly) private dental practices. It means that the NHS pays these practices to carry out treatment, and dentists are not employed by the NHS (unlike doctors and nurses).

“The money dentists receive from the NHS is not enough to cover the service they provide. Because of this, many dentists have chosen not to provide NHS dental care.

Under the terms of the NHS contract, dentists are not paid for the number of procedures they perform. Instead, they need to earn what’s called ‘units of dental activity’ or UDA for short.”

Here is the full list and responses: