AROUND 2,890 people in Grays could have to find a new dentist after a Grays practice lost its NHS funding.

Toothshine Dental Clinic, in Orsett Road, marginally missed its target for NHS funding, and to the clinic’s dismay, the NHS has already redistributed the cash to other clinics.

Practise manager Vicki Edgar said: “While we appreciate there has to be a system whereby decisions have to be made about budgets, the way they have gone about it means our patient care basically does not matter – it’s whether you hit your target that keeps your practise open.

“We are in the process of informing our patients we can only continue seeing them up to March 31, 2013, privately, or they will have to seek a new NHS practise which has the funds to see them.

“It is really frustrating when you work hard and build a practice which has a good reputation, for the PCT to basically make decisions on behalf of patients that does not take them into consideration.”

Vicki said many patients are upset at the thought of having to go somewhere else.

She said: “We have many patients who are nervous and only want to come to us.

“It means they may well not go anywhere else and their long term oral health could suffer.”

Carolyn Larsen, associate director of Primary Care Commissioning at NHS South Essex, said: “Last year, NHS South Essex provided one-off additional funding to a number of dental practises to see more NHS patients.

“In the last few months, NHS South Essex asked all interested dental practises in the area to bid for on-going additional funding.

“All bids were fairly assessed and on this occasion, Toothshine was unsuccessful. It still has its original contract.”