RESIDENTS of an elderly people's home in Sale have been left without dental checks for the past eight months.

The occupants of the 40-bed Atkinson Court Residential Home lost their domiciliary dental service, following a massive shake-up of the dental service on April 1.

Like many other dental practices, the dentist that had previously visited the home to treat residents has gone private and no longer provides this service.

Despite contacting many dentists and the Trafford Primary Care Trust, (PCT)), the local authority home, on Atkinson Road, has been unable to find a replacement.

Atkinson Court's registered manager, Brenda Darlington, said it was vital that residents are treated at the home, as many of them are too frail to travel to a dentist, and suffer from conditions such as dementia. Their ages range from 65 to 94.

One of her residents had recently been forced to pay £1,300 for private dental treatment.

Brenda said: "Some of the residents have dementia and can easily lose their dentures, and then they will struggle to eat."

She added: "Other homes are in the same position. I feel the older generation is being treated very shabbily.

"It is appalling that they are having to pay for something that should be theirs by right - and they fought for that right."

She said the situation was "like going back to the 1950s."

Altrincham and Sale West MP Graham Brady claims the lack of a dental service at Atkinson Court and other homes shows there needs to be a rethink over the provision of dentists for elderly people.

He said: "I am afraid that the Government's changes to NHS dentistry have made situations like this inevitable. Too many people are finding that when they need an NHS dentist they face either a long journey or a long wait. The situation is bad enough for those who are fit and able to travel but far worse for those who are ill, disabled or elderly.

"It is particularly shameful that older people, who have paid towards the NHS for so many years, have now been left high and dry."

Trafford Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "The PCT has recently been made aware of the difficulties in securing a domiciliary dental service for clients in Atkinson Court Residental Home.

"The PCT is currently in the process of reviewing the contracts of all NHS dentists, and will be able to use this information to inform future service development, including residential home provision."

* A major reorganisation of the NHS dental service came into force on April 1, under which NHS dentists signed contacts with their local primary care trust. Messenger reported at the time that Trafford's dentists warned that the NHS service was under threat, because they claimed the new contracts were being "imposed" on them.