Lobby your local council for rates debate: Dental practices have ‘fallen through the cracks’

Hygienist Christina Chatfield, clinical director of the Dental Health Spa in Brighton, fears she is just weeks away from bankruptcy.

As well as being left off the list of businesses qualifying for the government’s COVID-19 rescue package, many private dental practices are not getting business rates relief from councils either – although this is discretionary.

Forced to shut their doors like other high street businesses following the national lockdown 23 March, many private dental practices subsequently failed to qualify for the same funding as NHS dentists. 

Now, Christina, who is left without income or support, has launched a campaign to raise awareness of this anomaly and to urge practice owners to appeal to their local councils for financial support.

She said: ‘We won’t survive. We’ve only got a few weeks left of cashflow and patients actually can’t access us for emergency care. We’ve just fallen through the cracks. We’re a healthcare provider that has no financial support from the government in terms of retail rates relief and business grants that we desperately need.’