News / St Pauls
St Paul’s dentist to reopen soon after successful campaign
A dentist in St Paul’s which campaigners have fought and long and hard to save is reopening in February.
Bupa Dental Care St Paul’s was one of 85 Bupa dental practices due to close last June, sparking pleas from patients in the local community who said they would struggle to find a replacement.
Local residents protested outside the dental centre for months, and petitioned their local councillors for help.
Now residents of St Paul’s have received flyers through their letterboxes informing them that the dental centre is reopening and encouraging them to enrol.
The practice, on Ashley Road, has been given a new lease of life with a fresh shop front and posters in the windows advertising the new service.
St Paul’s Dental Practice will be run by SGA Dental Group on behalf of the NHS, with the new providers secured for 12 months in the former Bupa building. SGA Dental Group currently has practices in Southmead and Thornbury.
St Paul’s dental centre will reopen to local residents on February 8
The decision to hand over the lease to SGA was confirmed in December, after months of negotiations between local campaigners and the Integrated Care Board.
Speaking to Bristol24/7 back in May last year, community development activist Tara Miran said: “Our Bupa dentist is closing and we’re a community who faces multiple deprivations on a daily basis and so dental care is a necessity for us we can not afford to lose.”
“This nationwide lack of NHS dental care has hit our local community hardest as we face multiple inequalities daily.
“It’s about prevention rather than intervention and we invite everyone to this conversation to save St Pauls’ local dentist.
Local councillor Amirah Cole said: “This is great news for Ashley. It’s taken a lot of hard work to achieve this and my thanks go to local campaigners for their efforts.
“After Bupa closed its doors with little warning last year, we came together to demand an affordable, sustainable alternative. I’d heard horror stories of people resorting to doing their own dentistry; that clearly could not be allowed to happen. A new dentist in the same location accepting NHS patients is the outcome we all wanted.
“Whilst this is good news for local residents, there is still clearly a crisis in dentistry in Bristol. Prior to St Paul’s dentist re-opening, 99.1 per cent of dentists in the South West were not accepting new NHS patients – the highest number in the country.
“Bristol Labour has plans in motion for a needs assessment of healthcare in the region, so we can bring evidence to the NHS and its partners about where and what form of new healthcare facilities Bristol need, and call on them to deliver it.”
A spokesperson for NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB said, “We’re pleased to have made a decision to award the contract to provide dental services in St Pauls, to SGA services Ltd.
“We’d like to thank members of the Dental Action Group and local community for their continued support throughout this process.”
An open meeting is taking place at St Paul’s Learning Centre to give local residents more information.
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
