Criminals profiting from the crisis in NHS dentistry

The British Dental Association has said government must step up and honour its pledges to save NHS dentistry. New evidence shows scammers are now actively targeting patients across the country.

Patients are desperate to access care.

The news comes as Good Morning Britain hears from Jacqui Nicholson from County Durham this morning. After a two-year wait, she was desperate for an NHS dentist. Falling victim to a scam she found on a website promoted by someone she trusted on social media.

She paid £53 each for appointments for herself and her husband. The NHS logo, prepayment choice, and detailed email confirmation reassured her. When she discovered it was a scam, Jacqui contacted her bank but feared her refund claim come too late.

Needing urgent dental care, she felt deeply embarrassed, saying, “It looked so real… I even Google Mapped it.” Her advice: “It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. Don’t fall for it.”

The BDA understands fraudsters have already targeted patients in Norfolk, Essex, Suffolk, Devon, and Merseyside. They are using professional-looking websites to secure pre-payments of up to £319.10 for care.

Urgency action is necessary.

The professional body has welcomed the constructive tone set by the new Government. Nonetheless, it has stressed that urgency and ambition are now required. Urgency and ambition are necessary. They are needed to deliver pledges to reform the broken contract. This contract is fueling workforce and access crises in the service.

Lord Darzi’s recent independent review of the NHS observed that urgent action is needed. Dentistry must take steps to stay a core NHS service. A contract that balances activity and prevention must be developed. It should be attractive to dentists. It should reward those dentists who practice in less-served areas.

The BDA has expressed concern. They indicated that pledges to offer new funding for urgent care appointments are missing. These pledges were supposed to fund 700,000 appointments and have been dropped in the recent Budget. They warned that practices need support to cover significant new overheads generated.

“Criminals are now preying on desperate patients left with no options,” says BDA Chair Eddie Crouch

“We need real urgency and ambition from Labour on NHS dentistry. Fraudsters will keep seeing real opportunities as long as the new Government’s promises remain unkept.”