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Health minister opens new Wakefield practice
21st Jul 2006
Health Minister Rosie Winterton opened a new dental practice in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on May 25 in the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress and Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield. With state-of-the-art dental equipment, including full X-ray and leading edge treatments, a hand-picked dental team and support staff, the Queen Street Practise will eventually deliver essential NHS dental services for up to 16,000 patients Alastair Geldart, chief executive of Wakefield West Primary Care Trust, said: ‘The Queen Street practice brings together the best in terms of environment, convenience and high quality care for patients. ‘It is an asset to the people of Wakefield and I know that patients who receive dental care here speak very highly of their experiences. ‘Access to NHS dentistry for the population of Wakefield has improved and continues to improve thanks to this new practice and the dedication and hard work of other local dentists.’ The new practice, developed by Certainty Group Medical Services in conjunction with Wakefield West PCT, represents the fusion of PCT planning excellence and sound dental delivery and will be the first of many to open across the country. The clean, modern and welcoming surgery was designed, and project managed, by Certainty Interiors, part of the Certainty group of companies. To avoid pre-opening queues of patients, the practice opened a patient registration line and initiated a text messaging service to alert patients to their appointments to improve efficiency. Persistent non-attendees are monitored and in some cases removed from the register. Councillor Darran Travis, Mayor of Wakefield, said: ‘Both the Mayoress and I were delighted to open the Queen Street practice. We were very impressed with the up-to-date facilities the practice can offer the people of Wakefield and wish the practice all the success for the future.’ The facility, located just off Wakefield Westgate, is home to six dentists, two hygienists and a full practice management team handpicked for their approach to patient service. With extensive opening hours, from 7am-9pm, patients can see a dentist when its suits them and not just when it suits the dentists. Tim Clifford, joint managing director, said: ‘Our desire was to improve access for patients in the Wakefield area, the positive response we have received from patients on both access and service confirms we are meeting that objective.’ Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield, said: ‘The Queen Street practice is a fantastic new facility for Wakefield. At the opening, I met satisfied patients and motivated staff and saw the latest dental technology at work. The surgery is a great boost to the dental services in Wakefield and I hope its success continues long into the future.’ Rod Hoare, chairman of Certainty Medical Services, said: ‘This is all about partnership between the NHS and private sector; the Wakefield West PCT and Certainty dental team and their patients. I’m delighted to see everyone working together with such determination.’ The success of the new practice will determine whether Certainty Medical Services will reproduce the format across the country.
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