A study into Norfolk dentistry has found no surgeries accepting new NHS patients for the second year running - leaving people feeling "devastated and offloaded".

Patient group Healthwatch Norfolk (HWN) recently conducted a survey of more than 50 dental surgeries in the county as people continue to struggle to access services.

For the second year in a row, the organisation found that of the 53 practices it asked, none were accepting new NHS patients and some had waiting lists in the thousands.

The study came 12 months after HWN conducted a similar straw poll in response to mounting frustration from patients trying to access dental care.

The survey found:

  • No practices accepting new NHS patients of any age
  • An increase in the number of practices having left the NHS altogether
  • Surgeries with thousands of people on waiting lists - including Dentistry For You in Marham (almost 6,000) and West Earlham Dental Practice in Norwich (4,000)

The bleak situation has caused frustration across the county, with 43pc of all contacts with HWN relating to dentistry.

One patient told the organisation: "I have been a patient at my practice for 25 years until they advised me they were no longer taking NHS patients.

"I was devastated we could be offloaded like this."

Eastern Daily Press: Alex Stewart, of Healthwatch Norfolk.

Alex Stewart, chief executive of HWN said: "Lack of access to NHS dental care remains one of the subjects we hear more about than anything else when we are talking to communities around the county.

"While we appreciate some of the issues around dental care access are reliant on government policy, we are keen to see what can be done on a local and regional level to improve things while also ensuring MPS of all parties continue to highlight the concerns about NHS non-emergency dental care at a national high level."