WOULD-be patients at St Austell's new NHS dental surgery claim signing up has turned into a "complete nightmare" lasting several months.

It comes as England's chief dental officer Barry Cockcroft officially opened St Austell Dental Centre on Monday.

The East Hill practice, which has three dentists, can take up to 7,000 patients and has seen under half that number since it opened almost three months ago.

Pensioners Alec and Vera Leonard have been trying to register since April – but haven't heard a whisper from the NHS.

Communication

"It's disgusting," said Mr Leonard, 83, of Rectory Road, St Stephen. "We applied in the proper way, but we haven't heard a sound back. It's not fair and I think it's because we're too old.

"I've tried phoning and I at least expect a reply. All I want is a yay or nay so I know where I stand."

Three thousand patients have been seen or contacted so far, with another 1,400 on the practice's database who will be contacted in the coming weeks to arrange an initial visit.

A spokeswoman for the NHS said a further 1,500 to 1,700 patients who have applied will be contacted "in due course".

She said the practice could only deal with a certain number of patients each week, and the 3,000 or so people who haven't heard back should be contacted within the next "three to four months hopefully".

Despite this, the practice is still advertising places for new patients, asking people to call 01872 354375 if they'd like to be added to the waiting list. Mr Cockcroft, who unveiled a plaque at the practice in East Hill, said: "It was a privilege to officially open this new practice which has the capacity to treat 7,000 NHS patients.

"The practice has three NHS dentists and they've been seeing patients for nearly three months. They have the benefit of being treated with state-of-the-art dental technology."

Five new practices have opened across Cornwall since February, seeing the NHS waiting list drop from 1,800 to 160.

St Austell dental centre is owned by Integrated Dental Holdings, a company that runs NHS practices across the country.

Practice manager Laura Dellamuro said: "The team at Whitecross is proud to offer this service on behalf of the NHS in Cornwall.

"Patients keep telling me how pleased they are that the NHS has a new practice right in the centre of St Austell."