On Monday 15^th February at the Woking Borough Council Overview and Scruting committee meeting a presentation was given on NHS Surrey.  In answer to questions by Cllr Ian Johnson we were told that much was being done to improve the availability of dental services in Woking.  I pressed for further details about what was being done and as these were not available on the night I have been promised them in due course.  I will post them here once I have them.

I expressed concern regarding another aspect of the presentation that NHS Surrey is currently rated as fair (equivalent to a 3 on a scale of 1 to 4 with 1 being the best) for both the quality of care offered and for the use of resources.  My concern was that with the likely affects of an aging population in Surrey and with future financial pressures what is being done to ensure that NHS Surrey does not slip from fair to weak.  Unfortunately I was not heartened by the reply, which I would have expected to be full of terms like innovation, efficiency and best practice instead the reply seemed to suggest nothing of the sort, leaving us to wonder how weak will be avoided.

I have heard that Woking finally has a new NHS Dentist, taking on new NHS patients. I have not yet got the contact details for this new dentist, once I do I will post them here.

However, I have heard that Macrocare Dental Surgery is now registering NHS patients ( limited spaces available).  They can be contacted 01932 347621.  Their address is 290 Albert Drive, Sheerwater, GU21 5TX.

With a high level of demand for a new NHS Dentist in Woking, this can only be good news.

To find details of all dentists in Woking see the following link:

http://www.windowonwoking.org.uk/neighbourhoods/services?type=3

I have recently received quite a few items of casework from residents concerned about how difficult it is to find a local NHS dentist, especially that there is not an NHS dentist in Knaphill.  This is a national problem that the Lib-dems have been campaigning about. Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb puts the blame on the Governments dental contact saying: “The Government is in complete denial over the fact that the new dental contract has been an abject failure. People want to see an NHS dentist, but all the evidence shows they are finding this increasingly difficult.”  I tried to find an NHS dentist in

Ironically the 24 hour dentist in

To find local services such as dentists try this NHS link: http://www.nhs.uk/Servicedirectories/pages/servicesearch.aspx

At a special meeting of the Woking Borough Council Licensing committee, a decision was taken to suspend the license of J Sainsbury’s Ashcombe Parade, Kingfield Road, Woking, for one month.  Other conditions added to the license included the prevention of sale of alcohol between 12pm and 6pm, to protect young people from the illegal sale of alcohol as well as requiring J Sainsbury’s to construct an alcohol sales kiosk distinct from other tills.  This decision was not taken lightly and will not come into force until October, pending appeal. 

J Sainsbury’s had failed two test purchased to persons underage carried out by Surrey Trading Standards, who had been called in at the request of Surrey Police.  As the matter may still be appealed, I will not go into further details, other than to say that hopefully this will serve as a warning to other retailers to ensure they do not serve underage drinkers and as a welcome outcome to those responsible retailers already following the law.