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NHS find a dentist website 'work of fiction'

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Dentists say the NHS website showing whether practices are taking on new NHS patients is a "work of fiction".

Of 34 north-east of England practices on the website said to be "accepting new NHS patients when availability allows", only three actually had space in their books.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said adding "when availability allows" was an attempt to conceal the scale of the problem and had confused patients.

NHS England (NHSE) did not explain why the wording was changed or why so few dentists actually had availability, but said it provided practices with tools and support to routinely update whether they were accepting new patients.

BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: "The data on [the website] is a work of fiction.

"The last government dropped straightforward yes/no questions on whether practices can take new patients, to try and cover the scale of the access crisis.

"A new government won't fix this just by playing around with words on a website."

Source: BBC News

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