Leeds parents slam 'scandalous' NHS as hundreds of children left without dental care midway through orthodontic treatment

A number of parents contacted the Yorkshire Evening Post to say that they were given no prior warning that the provider of their children’s treatment had lost their contract and that they would need a new source.

Many of the children were midway through wearing their braces and getting treatment for their teeth when the NHS contracts changed hands at the end of May. Parents have said that they have been unable to access a provider in the city and are now being asked to travel as far away as Selby, Wakefield and Pontefract.

One of the providers to lose their contact was Myorthodontist in Moor Allerton, which has now closed as a result.

The NHS has responded saying that it is working to find alternative arrangements for patients “as a matter of priority”.

One parent to contact the YEP was Dr Richard Shenderey, who was left waiting three months for alternative arrangements to be found in Harrogate for his 15-year-old daughter after her treatment at Myorthodontist came to an end.

He said that “nobody at the practice knew what was going on” and that frequent calls and emails to the NHS to find out what to do were unanswered.

Dr Shenderey, who works for the NHS, said: “They eventually apologised over the poor process and did offer a new practice in Harrogate rather than Leeds, but on contacting this practice it was another two months until they were able to see my daughter as NHS England had failed to send the referral through despite me emailing them regularly to ask them to do this.

"As I understand there was no public consultation and they didn’t put in interim cover. They had a year to solve this and they just didn’t tell any of the patients or families. It was completely foreseeable and preventable.

"My wife and I spent hours trying to contact them and we didn’t get an explanation or full apology or accountability. It was a pretty appalling experience from NHS England's commissioning team and many others are clearly having similar problems.”

He said that he is still awaiting a full response to a complaint he has issued and that the entire experience has been “very frustrating and time consuming.”

Dr Shenderey said: “It’s not life or death but they could have apologised and looked at what went wrong and why all these patients were left for months mid-treatment but instead what was evident was the incredibly poor planning.

"They had hundreds of children but they hadn’t properly set up ongoing care or could give any useful advice on what to do with problems in the meantime.

"NHS England did say that if we paid to see someone privately if she was having problems or pain we would lose entitlement to ongoing NHS care even though they could not provide the NHS care they started.

"Having been involved in the oversight of commissioning services in the NHS in the past myself I was shocked at the lack of clarity, information or accountability."

One woman contacted the YEP about the “nightmare situation” to say that her daughter had been offered treatment in Pontefract but this would be a three-hour round trip and that she would have to take half a day off work as the practice is not open on weekends.

She added that the practice in Pontefract had been sent incorrect dental records, adding: “I keep being told to contact NHS England but they are very unhelpful.

"No one seems to know where my daughter's records are and they are needed.

“Her treatment was delayed for two years because of Covid and now this! It seems so unfair and yet again young people are being failed.”

One man who used to work at Myorthodontist said it was “scandalous that patients are in this situation”.

A spokesperson for NHS England in the North East and Yorkshire region said: “While every effort has been made to support a smooth transition to new service arrangements, we are aware of a group of patients in the Leeds area who are experiencing a delay with their transfer to a new provider.

"Alternative arrangements are being put in place as a matter of priority, and those patients affected are now being contacted with details of their new provider.”

The spokesperson explained that NHS England carried out a procurement process for when the existing contracts for orthodontic services in Leeds came to an end in May 2022

They said: “Across Yorkshire and the Humber for most patients there is no change and they will continue to be treated by their current orthodontist.

"If a child’s orthodontic practice was unsuccessful in the procurement process or they did not bid for the contract, they were offered the opportunity to finish treatment plans of those patients they were treating.

"Where the practice decided not to continue any NHS treatment beyond the end date of their NHS agreement, it has been necessary to transfer patients to another orthodontic practice.”

They said that some patients have been transferred to new practices further away due to orthodontists being “specialist providers”.

They said: “While every effort is made for patients to be seen as close to home as possible, this is dependent on providers having the capacity and staff to complete open courses of treatment.

"For patients with concerns their allocated practice is not the most accessible for them, NHS England is looking at these requests on a case by case basis, taking account of places of work or schools and colleges where possible.”