This time in 2023, if you passed through St Paul’s on a Thursday afternoon you’d find a group of people – from primary kids to pensioners – gathered on Ashley Road to protest the closure of the local dentist’s.
It was part of a wave of planned cuts by private health giant BUPA, affecting 85 practices.
The announcement of the closures revealed the human impact of facts uncovered by a BBC investigation in 2022. This found that it’s almost impossible to get a dentist in Bristol.
The research showed that 98% of dental practices in the city were not accepting new adult NHS patients. Surrounding areas were similarly bleak.
The looming shutdown of the St Paul’s practice meant thousands of NHS patients were suddenly facing life without a dentist. Many were on low incomes, or from communities that already face significant inequalities around health and healthcare.
As the clock ticked down to the doors closing for the final time on 30 June, dozens of people contacted the Cable in response to a callout we put out about Bristol’s dental crisis.
Some were panicking about losing their dentist’s at St Paul’s, as they looked in vain for a replacement. Others shared their experiences of going for years without dental care, emptying their savings to go private, or even taking pliers to their own mouths.
The dental practice closure made local headlines. But seven months later it was all over the national news – as it reopened under new management, with hundreds of people queueing round the block to get an NHS registration. Footage of the queues starkly illustrated the dire state of dentistry in the UK.
In this issue of our Area in Focus podcast, we talk to the remarkable group of campaigners who fought for the surgery to reopen – and succeeded, meaning local people could have a community dentist again.
How did they manage it? And does the story hold lessons for other campaigners – and for the public bodies and private companies who hold the power in healthcare?
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