This will not hurt

Patients in Derbyshire face a postcode lottery finding an NHS dentist. There are almost three times as many dentists per person in central Derby as in the Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire, according to new figures.

The statistics, released by Health Minister Rosie Winterton, show there are 84 NHS dentists for every 100,000 people served by Central Derby Primary Care Trust. In the Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire Primary Care Trust area, there are just 33 per 100,000. The East Midlands average is nearly 37 and across England it is 40.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire and Derby primary care trusts said patients tended to access dental services not only where they live but also near their places of work. She said: "The higher proportion of people that work in Derby, therefore, naturally results in a higher concentration of dental services in those areas."

Despite the apparently high number of dentists in Derby, Karen Creasy, 26, of Allestree, has been struggling to find one. She broke a tooth this week and began ringing round to get an appointment. She said: "I'd been trying for months to find an NHS dentist in Derby. I even rang every number in Yellow Pages and, in the end, had a one-off treatment at a private practice. I then rang the NHS, which gave me the primary care trust number. The trust advised me there were only two NHS dentists taking on patients at the moment in Derby. After speaking to them again yesterday morning, I found out that there was another practice on Duffield Road which has just been given more funding - but only for patients in Allestree, luckily for me."

In the greater Derby area, there are 28 dentists per 100,000 people. In Erewash, the figure is 76 and, in Amber Valley, 38.

Jean Lockhart chairs the Derbyshire County South District Patient and Public Involvement Forum. She said: "Dentists are still very hard to find. Patients are, in some cases, having to go near enough out of the county."

The figures give an insight into the provision of dentistry after new contracts came in on April 1. There is now an NHS dentist for, on average, every 2,486 patients. The new contract replaced the previous General Dental Services (GDS) and Personal Dental Services (PDS) arrangement.

It means that, instead of being paid directly for each NHS treatment, dentists enter into contracts with trusts and are paid an amount for treating a set number of patients. The contract also introduced a simpler system of charges and aimed to place more emphasis on preventative treatment.

But Andrew Dale, secretary of the Derby Dental Committee, said the new system was not working. He said: "We are looking at rural areas and areas in the city. Dentists, historically, seem to set up in the city rather than smaller rural areas. There is nothing in the new contract that will promote dentists to move out into rural areas."

Separate statistics released by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care showed that, in greater Derby, the number of dentists fell from 71 in March to 48 in September after the introduction of the new contract. In Erewash, they increased from 47 to 83. In other areas, the number remained about the same.

The spokeswoman for the care trusts said: "The Derby city trust has been successful with 33 out of the 37 dental practices signing up to the new contract. The signing of such a significant number of dental contracts ensured that the trust was able to continue to offer access to an NHS dentist throughout the period of change."