Services here include occupational therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation facilities, as well as a chest clinic and a drop-in dental service.

Instead of assisting the public in this time of crisis, private practitioners now face bankruptcy and closure, removing half of the country's dental services.

The current range of more than 400 individually priced dental services will be replaced by three fixed-price bands to cover basic check-ups, routine treatments and more complex surgery.

We saw an opportunity with dental services.

The shortfall meant that primary care trusts, which are responsible for dental services, found themselves short of cash to pay for them.