Attending Your Appointment

Booking for NHS Appointment

We've listened to your feedback and we are now opening our appointment book three months in advance.

In addition, we've increased the availability of examination appointments and introduced a waiting list. We will be monitoring these changes closely to ensure they are effective and do not lead to any unintended issues.

We hope these improvements will make it easier for patients to contact us and book appointments throughout the month.

Please note that after-school and other popular time slots will still be in high demand. If you’d like to secure one of these times, we still recommend calling us when the books first open.

Our NHS appointment book for routine examinations opens three months in advance, on the first working day of each month.

For example:

• Bookings for September 2025 will open on August 2025
• Bookings for October 2025 will open on 1^st September 2025

This system is designed to prevent excessively advanced bookings and to ensure fairer access for all patients.

How to Book

Appointments can be booked:

• By telephone
• In person at reception

Appointments cannot be booked via email, due to the live, dynamic nature of our appointment book.

Please be aware:

We experience extremely high call volumes during booking release periods. If our telephone queue is full, your call may not connect. Please keep trying—your call will be answered as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

NHS Waiting List for New Patients

We are trialling a capped NHS waiting list for new NHS routine patients, or those who have not attended for an NHS routine examination in the last 2 years. This will initially be limited to 100 patients, as we assess potential future capacity. If you would like to be added to this list, please call us:

• Patients will be contacted in strict order of joining as and when NHS slots become available.
• We will update our website when the waiting list is open or closed, so please monitor this page regularly.

For more information click here

Private Dental Options

We currently have limited private dental capacity. If you would prefer quicker access to care, please speak to our reception team about joining our private dental plan or click here

If you've been informed by a member of our team that you're unable to schedule a routine NHS dental care appointment due to not attending for a routine check-up within the past two years, we'd like to provide clarification on this matter.

It's important to understand that since 2006, there's no such thing as "registration" with an NHS dentist. Unless you are actively undergoing a course of treatment, dentists aren't obligated to see you for an appointment if they do not have the capacity to do so. Given the current demand and capacity in NHS dentistry, we're unable to accommodate every patient. The NHS England guidelines suggest a timeline of two years to define regular attendance, and we adhere to these boundaries.

We have specific 'examination appointment' slots which enable us to manage our appointment book accordingly and ensure we can get patients booked in for treatment within a timely manner. When these slots are full, there is no additional capacity unless we are able to recruit additional dentists, which is currently challenging due to nationwide NHS dentist shortages.

As a result, while we understand this may be frustrating, our ability to offer appointments is directly tied to both clinical capacity and appointment availability. We are doing our best within these constraints to serve our patients fairly and efficiently. Please see information regarding our waiting list trial, should you wish to join.

NHS Dental Care Waiting List

We’re pleased to announce that we are launching a waiting list, for all eligible NHS patients, whether you're a new patient or an existing patient that has not been seen in over 2 years

Due to ongoing high demand for NHS dental care, we are operating a trial NHS waiting list for new routine patients. This helps us manage capacity fairly and transparently.

As part of this process, we are trialling a capped NHS waiting list to help assess our ability to manage any potential increase in demand. This list will initially be limited to 100 patients, allowing us to evaluate its functionality and implications. After initial trial, we hope this can then be an option we can provide long term.

How It Works:

• The list will be capped at 100 patients
• Patients may be added by reception staff via telephone request/in person
• New NHS patients (not seen in 2+ years or never seen before) are eligible
• Patients must not be given an estimated wait time as this can not be accurately determined.
• The Practice website will be updated monthly to indicate whether the list is open or closed

Protocol for Contacting Patients for Appointments

• When NHS capacity becomes available, patients will be contacted in chronological order.
• Patients will be offered an available appointment slot during the call.
• Voicemail messages will not be left. If the patient does not answer, we will:
  • Move on to the next patient to avoid missed booking opportunities.
  • Attempt to contact the missed patient again when further spaces become available.
• Procedure for if a Patient Cannot Attend:
  If the patient answers the call and declines the offered appointment (e.g., due to schedule conflict), they:
  • Remain on the list in the same position.
  • Will be contacted again in future when new availability arises.
  • Patient preferences of appointment days/times can be discussed and noted, but can not be guaranteed.
• Procedure for if a Patient Returns a Missed Call:
  If the patient calls back after the slot is filled:
  • They will remain on the list in their original position.
  • They will be contacted again when future availability arises.
• List Maintenance:
  If you would like to be removed from the list for any reason, please contact our reception team.

Wish to be added?

If you would like to be added to this waiting list, please attend or call the surgery:

• Netherby Drive: 0191 274 7734
• Denton Road: 0191 228 0018

Our reception team will be happy to assist you.

Prefer not to wait?

If you would prefer not to wait, you may wish to consider our private dental plan, which offers faster access to appointments and additional benefits. Click here to view more details.