The queue meandered into the distance, past offices, flats and houses; there were hundreds waiting, shoulder to shoulder, old and young.
But this patient crowd were not tennis fans outside Wimbledon or mourning the loss of a monarch or hoping to purchase a bottle of Prime – they were trying to register for an NHS dentist in England in 2024.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But this patient crowd were not tennis fans outside Wimbledon or mourning the loss of a monarch or hoping to purchase a bottle of Prime – they were trying to register for an NHS dentist in England in 2024.
The scenes outside St Pauls Dental Practice in inner-city Bristol – where 1,500 patients were registered for NHS treatment in two days – became one of the defining images of the week.
Just when the branch closed last June, she started experiencing “excruciating pain” in her teeth and was left with no choice but to go private, spending upwards of £500 on two fillings.
Later on Monday, Rose Robinson, 47, from St Werburghs, a neighbouring suburb, arrived at 11am and spent three hours in the queue before being told by police to go home after a fight broke out further up the line.
Before the branch closed its doors under the previous management, protests began outside on a weekly basis, the group held meetings with NHS officials and the housing sssociation, hundreds of pounds were raised, and its petition garnered more than 1,500 signatures.
The community mobilisation, combined with the power of social media and the huge demand for NHS dentistry created the perfect storm for this week’s scenes, according to the dentists and managers at the practice.
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