Dental Surgery Hellesdon scamming people offering NHS slots

Scammers have set up a fake website for a new dentists called Dental Practice Hellesdon,and are advertising much-coveted NHS patient slots for a mere £20 registration fee.

But the dental surgery does not exist, the address used is an empty store and the dentists pictured on its site do not even live in Norfolk.

"I WAS SO PLEASED TO GET AN NHS DENTIST"

Maria Claire, who lives in Heartsease with her partner and eight-year-old daughter, is one of the people who was caught out by the scam.

A post on Facebook first got her attention, saying a surgery was accepting new NHS patients.

She said: "Our family haven't had a dentist for years I wanted to get in as soon as possible.

The fake rates for NHS fees on the scammer's Dental Surgery Hellesdon website (Image: Submitted)

"The post had a link to their website which I clicked on and everything looked legitimate.

"It asked for a registration fee of £20 to guarantee a spot - which I didn't think was unusual - so I went ahead with the earliest appointment of January 17.

"I put it in my partner's name because he recently suffered from sepsis due to a tooth infection so I wanted to make sure he was seen first.

"When I booked I even got an invoice through afterwards.

"The next day I happened to see another post about it being a scam and after checking out the address - 309 Reepham Road - it showed up as an empty shop.

"I called my bank who also said it didn't look authentic.

"I'm a bit cross with myself as I'd usually check these things more carefully but I was just so pleased I'd found an NHS dentist and wanted to get a spot.

The scammers are offering NHS patient slots for a £20 registration fee (Image: Newsquest)

"It's terrible because whoever is doing this is preying on people who desperately need a dentist.

"Even getting an appointment with a private dentist is about £100 so I can see why this has caught so many people out."

SCAM DENTAL SURGERY

Brown & Co, the letting agents for the building, confirmed that it is currently empty and there is no agreement for a dentist to take over the site.

When our reporter reversed image searched the picture of the main dentist who supposedly worked at the surgery it revealed they in fact worked for Dental Implants Somerset.

Hellesdon Dental Care, in Middletons Lane, had around 250 emails with hopeful members of the public thinking they could get on to the NHS patient list.

In a social media post the surgery said: "Unfortunately we do not have an NHS contract.

Lettings agent for the alleged location of the practice Brown & Co say it's empty and there's no agreement for a dentist to take over the site (Image: Google Maps)

"We're very sorry if you've been scammed and we've contacted the police about the  fraudster."

APPEAL TO 'EXERCISE CAUTION'

After multiple reports to Norfolk County Council, Trading Standards released a statement confirming it was investigating the claims.

It said: "We've been made aware of a website and Facebook page which is purporting to be offering NHS dental places at a new practice in Hellesdon.

"We're currently looking into this and so far have been unable to identify any business connected to the address given on the website and Facebook page that are currently or are planning to offer these services from this location.

"The NHS website states your dentist should not charge you a deposit before any assessment of your treatment needs has been carried out.

"We advise that you should exercise caution when dealing with unknown, or new, entities especially when they are asking for personal and financial information."

NORFOLK'S "DENTAL DESERT"

Norfolk's dental landscape has been bleak with a recent report from the Office for National Statistics Dentistry stating 99.7pc of new patients in the east of England cannot access NHS care.

The 'About Us' section of the scammer's website (Image: Submitted)

In April this year patient group, Healthwatch Norfolk (HWN), conducted a survey of more than 50 dental surgeries in the county.

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 crisis also applies to children, with research conducted by the House of Commons Library, found that 57.3pc of children in Norfolk had not seen an NHS dentist in the past year.

Steffan Aquarone, MP for North Norfolk, called for action over the lack of NHS dentistry saying: "Norfolk is a dental desert with some of the poorest NHS provision in the country.

"This rapid decline continues to impact the health of people living in Norfolk where 22pc of children have tooth decay by the time they are five and where poor dental health remains the number one reason for their hospitalisation.

"This just isn't good enough."

Norfolk County Council Trading Standards have released a statement after reports about the scam (Image: Submitted)