Another Cumbrian dentist will withdraw its NHS services.
Carlisle’s Lismore Dental Practice has written to the NHS to say it will terminate its contract from June 30.
It is not known how many NHS patients the practice had.
North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, which is responsible for NHS dentistry, said it was its intention to replace the lost capacity as quickly as possible and had written to existing providers in the surrounding areas to see if they could take on patients.
It added: “We believe that this is the quickest way to replace the lost access for patients. If this does not prove to be successful, the next steps would be
to go out to formal procurement to try to secure a new dental service.”
It said all affected patients would be written to informing them of the change.
In March, Bupa announced it planned to close 12 Bupa dental practices in Cumbria. The health firm provides NHS services across a large part of north Cumbria.
Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Pickstone, who represents Longtown ward, recently raised the the crisis in local dentist provision to a full meeting of Cumberland Council.
He said: “We will all be aware of the significant problems people are having trying to get free or affordable dental care. The cost of living crisis is making things even worse. People are missing out on check-ups, having check-ups less often, and at worst resorting to ‘DIY’ dental care.”
A recent report showed that no dentists in Cumbria were taking on new NHS patients.
Cumberland Council members agreed to back a motion brought by the Liberal Democrats to contact the Government and the NHS urgently about the dentistry crisis in the area.
It was also agreed that a review would be undertaken by the authority’s health scrutiny committee.
