A campaigner has discovered that only one dentist practice within a 13-mile radius of Didcot has confirmed it is accepting new adult patients.

Carol Stavris of campaign group Didcot Against Authority made the discovery when she put her post code into the NHS website to find nearby practices. 

Manor Dental Clinic is Headington is the closest dentist to the town that said it was accepting adult NHS patients.

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The 49 other dentists in that radius are either not accepting new patients, are only taking patients referred by another dentist, or have not given a recent update on their position.

Similarly, only four dentists are accepting children under the age of 17.

Ms Stavris said: “I’ve lived here for 20 years, but my dentist is in Cowley because it’s where I used to work. I’m happy it is as I couldn’t get anywhere near here.

“The dentists have never been totally within the NHS. They have always had the option to do private work and I think a lot of them are moving over to that and not doing NHS.

“I’m not sure whether there’s any powers that the government can use to make them take NHS patients.

“A campaign group called Toothless went to the House of Commons and said that a lot of people were doing ‘do it yourself’ dentistry, buying stuff you can fill your teeth with. Or they’re going abroad for dental treatment.

“They said these are the sort of things that people are resorting to because they can’t get a dentist appointment.”

Ms Stavris raised the point at an annual town meeting on Monday, March 20, and also spoke about the other work done by Didcot Against Austerity.

The group have gathered more than 1,000 signatures on a petition, taken from street stalls and its public meeting last year, calling for a minor injuries unit.

It intends to present this survey to MP David Johnston after he launched a survey to find out satisfaction with health provision in the town.

At the meeting, Ms Stavris called for Didcot Town Council to “add its weight” to the calls for better healthcare provision in the town.

Cllr Mocky Khan, leader of the town council, recently had a motion passed by South Oxfordshire District Council to recognise how current provisions were “failing residents” in Didcot.

As part of this motion, he called for more NHS dental facilities, as well a health centre and GP hub for Great Western Park, a well-resourced Minor Injuries Unit or similar, and increased resources to support mental health.

The acceptance of Cllr Khan’s motion means that the district council has accepted the need for better health services in Didcot.