Bupa Dental Care is to sell its Hucknall dental practice on Portland Road.

The news come as Bupa announced that it is to sell, close, or merge 85 of its UK dental practices. This is due to a lack of dentists to deliver NHS care, in addition to increased running costs caused by inflation and high energy prices.

Despite significant investment by Bupa Dental Care, the business has been unable to recruit enough dentists to deliver NHS care in many practices for months, and in some cases, years. This is due to the industry-wide challenges of the NHS contract model, and increased demand and complexity of care since the Covid-19 pandemic.

These factors mean patients at these practices have not been able to access the NHS dental services they need. In October, the Hucknall practice sent a letter to its patients confirming that they were unable to offer NHS appointments.

Mark Allan, General Manager for Bupa Dental Care, said: "As a leading dental provider in the UK, our priority must be to enable patients to receive the care they need. For the majority of affected practices, this decision will allow commissioners to procure local providers for the NHS contract, tailoring services and investment to the needs of the local community, thereby providing a better opportunity for patients to continue access to NHS dental services."

Bupa has pledged to provide resources to help patients find alternative local providers and to also fully support its staff through this change, redeploying affected colleagues where possible to continue their careers with Bupa.

Mr Allan continued: "We fully understand the impact today's decision has on our patients and our people within these practices. This decision has not been taken lightly and closure is a last resort. Despite our continued efforts, the dental industry is facing a number of significant and systemic challenges that are placing additional pressure on providing patient care, in particular recruiting dentists to deliver NHS dental care. This decision enables us to focus our efforts on high-quality, continued sustainable care for patients across our wider portfolio."

Bupa has confirmed that at present all its dental practices across the UK and Ireland are open as usual. The affected dental practices will either be sold, closed or merged later this year, with the timing of the service changes varying by location.

For further information about the changes, please click here.