8,500 people in Bridlington waiting for NHS appointments

17 January 2024

With two practices for a town of 35,000, patients in Bridlington are on "a waiting list, for a waiting list".

By the end of 2022, Mydentist was the only NHS dental care provider in the town, while the only other practice in the area was reportedly only accepting private patients.

Speaking to BBC News, residents said the waiting list for an appointment was “10 pages of A4 long”, with around 8,500 people awaiting visits. The practice has not yet confirmed this.

A spokesperson for Mydentist commented, “As the only NHS provider in Bridlington, we are aware of the high demand for NHS dental care in the area.

"While our practice team continues to work hard to treat as much of the local community as they can, we are currently at full capacity.

"Despite a national shortage of dentists, we are actively recruiting new NHS clinicians to join the team in the hopes of growing this capacity in the future.”

NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) issued a statement which said, "We have not yet been able to attract new dental providers into Bridlington, despite our best efforts. We are continuing to work with existing providers to increase access where we can and will continue to try and attract new provisions through the procurement route.

"We are working hard with the profession and local dental practices to continue to improve services. However, more must be done nationally to support ICBs in delivering this agenda."