A FRIEND of mine recently suffered a serious bout of toothache.
As it was after hours on a Friday, he rang the 111 emergency help system only to be told that there wer no emergency dentists available in the York area and that the nearest available one was in Goole.
He suffered all night and went to A&E the following morning, where they gave him the strongest painkillers available and told him that the reason that there were no emergency dentists available in York was that toothache was not considered life-threatening.
I don’t blame the dentists nor the hospital, but isn’t it a truly sad situation within our NHS when we, as one of the richest countries in the world, are unable to help a person in pain.
Paul Tutill, Usher Lane, Haxby, York
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