Portsmouth has reportedly been left without any availability for new NHS dental patients after a chain announced it was shutting down three surgeries.
The move means thousands of people will be left without an NHS dentist, which an MP has said will affect poorer members of the community the most.
Colosseum Dental’s decision to close three practices in the Hampshire city means there are now no places available for new patients in Portsmouth, according to data from the NHS Digital website, with the nearest spaces available a ferry ride away in Gosport or a half-hour drive away in Havant.
One patient, who did not wish to be named, said: “I received a letter saying that I would be provided ongoing care at another surgery but when I contacted them I was told all they could do was put me on a waiting list and 20,000 patients were affected by the closures.
“They said Colosseum had made a ‘business decision’ to shut the three surgeries and the staff had been made redundant.”
Colosseum Dental Group is a Europe-wide company owned by investment group Jacobs Holding, based in Switzerland.
It gained responsibility for the three Portsmouth surgeries it is now closing when it took over the Southern Dental group in 2017.
A spokesman for NHS England South East said that the number of patients affected by the closure was “around 9,000” and the provider had given three months’ notice for the NHS to find alternatives through other local practices.
He said: “There are more than 20 dental practices open in the Portsmouth area and patients in nine in 10 dental surgeries will not be affected by these changes, while support is being offered for people to find alternative care where that’s needed.”
The NHS Digital website does not provide live information on dental places in the area.
Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South, said poorer members of the community would be worst-affected.
“The news that three dental practises in Portsmouth are set to close is deeply concerning,” he said.
“This now means that 20,000 people in our community will be left without access to dental care.
“The fact that the nearest available spaces according to the NHS website are in Havant and Gosport means that, yet again, the most vulnerable in society will be disproportionately affected.
“How will poorer families pay for the additional transport costs? How will single parents get the time off work to travel the extra distance? What will the additional environmental cost be for our city already plagued by air pollution? The government needs to answer these questions.”
Morgan said the situation raised questions over the use of private organisations to run public services.
He said: “This government needs to realise that carelessly hacking off bits of our public services and selling it to the highest bidder is not the best way to run a country. I will be raising this matter with the minister responsible over the coming few days.”
Mick Armstrong, chairman of the British Dental Association, said: “Years of under-funding and failed contracts have taken their toll.
“We are seeing practices struggling to remain sustainable as vacancies go unfilled, and over a million patients left unable to secure an appointment.
“NHS dentistry remains the Cinderella service and this is the latest evidence that its future can no longer be guaranteed.”
The NHS England spokesman said support was available by calling NHS 111.
Colosseum and Jacobs Holding have been approached for comment.
This article previously stated that 20,000 people would be affected by the closures. NHS England South East has since said only around 9,000 will be affected. HuffPost UK has updated the article accordingly.