Long Stratton councillor Alison Thomas says residents let down by Manor House surgery, which accrued hundreds of thousands in debt to NHS
A Long Stratton councillor has said that people have been let down after it emerged this week that the town’s recently closed dental surgery had accrued almost £1 million in debt.
Last month, Manor House surgery – the only NHS dental practice in the town – saw its last patients and went into voluntary liquidation.
Owners Opus did not respond to questions over why the practice had closed – at a time when the country is facing one of its most dire dentist shortages in living memory, leaving people with little choice but to go private or go without dental care.
This week, it emerged that the Norwich Road practice had been saddled with enormous debts, totalling £992,800.
Documents filed to Companies House show that the surgery owed £444,245 to the NHS and £537,410 to Simply Smile UK, which runs several dental surgeries in the region.
Alison Thomas, district councillor for Long Stratton, questioned why the health service had not stepped in sooner.
“Residents have been let down,” she said. “It raises the question that, with the business clearly struggling for a considerable time, how was it able to get into this position without the NHS taking action sooner?
“As for the patients, they have paid for treatment, in some cases, that they are not going to get. Are they going to have to pay for it again?
“It’s a grave concern – not only the loss of funds, but the loss of the service.
The loss of the practice comes at a time when thousands of homes are planned to be built in the town.
“Long Stratton is scheduled to grow, and we need more services, not less,” said Cllr Thomas, who herself lives in the town. “Very few practices are taking on NHS patients.”
Following the closure last month, a spokesman for the NHS East of England said it would be looking at ways to provide dental care for people in the town.
“We are looking into the closure and will be working with contract holders to outline how we can provide accessible and effective dental provision in the area,” he said.
