Darnall Dental Clinic in Sheffield says it cannot continue treating all its NHS patients without additional funding. Since 2022, the clinic has accepted 4,000 new patients. However, after losing an NHS subsidy, it can no longer maintain the same level of service.
Staff have faced verbal abuse from patients unable to get appointments. Dr. Vasileios Orliaklis, from the clinic, said the practice now has 13,500 patients enrolled. He added, “Our practice has already invested £466,000 to expand, but now we face a further funding loss of £544,000. It’s truly maddening.”
In 2023 and 2024, the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board gave extra funding to help Darnall Dental Clinic take on new NHS patients. This money came from “claw-back” funds, which are taken from practices that fail to meet their contract targets.
Dentists receive NHS funding based on a set number of Units of Dental Activity (UDA). For example, a check-up equals one UDA, while a filling counts as three. If dentists do not complete their contracted UDAs, the unused funds are returned and redistributed.
Dr. Orliaklis said many of the new patients needed complex emergency dental work. “They have high dental needs and have often not seen a dentist in 15 or 20 years.”
One new patient, Jason Taylor, 45, had already lost his teeth in hospital and is waiting for dentures at Darnall. He said, “I was embarrassed to leave the house. It took me a long time to find a dentist, and when I got here, there was a queue around the block.”
Dr. Orliaklis warned of “difficult conversations” with patients. “I want to help people in the area, but I don’t know if we can afford to see all patients or if we have to cut the list. We also have to consider staff wellbeing.”
Practice manager Sarah Fletcher said managing patient expectations is a daily challenge. “Some patients wait six weeks for fillings, which is good for NHS standards, but many expect faster care. They don’t understand the pressure we face and often express their frustration in anger.”
Dental nurse and receptionist Olivia Tanner, who has worked at the clinic for four years, said staff frequently face abuse. “There is swearing, shouting, and I’ve even been spat at. It’s degrading, especially since we want to help people.”
The clinic serves an area with high dental needs. A recent Public Accounts Committee report found that only about half of adults in England saw an NHS dentist in the past two years. This number dropped to 40% in the two years up to March 2024, down from 49% before the pandemic.
Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts criticized the situation. “The report shows UK dentistry is in serious distress. It is outrageous that a practice expanding NHS appointments is now losing funding.”
An NHS South Yorkshire spokesperson said the board is committed to improving dental access within funding limits. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government is working to rebuild NHS dentistry and expand access after years of neglect.
