One whistleblower; secret footage of 166 patients; and the biggest NHS recall ever seen in the UK of its scale and nature.
More than 22,000 patients over a period of 32 years are being asked to reach out to the NHS for advice and testing after investigations found that Nottinghamshire based dentist Mr Desmond D’Mello of the Daybrook Dental Surgery had been potentially ignoring infection control procedures for years.
But with the story only breaking last week, the question on many people’s lips is this – just how far did the ‘Dirty Dentist’ go?
The media have been reporting of a man who lived a lavish lifestyle of luxury, earning £1,000 a day and living in million pound Georgian mansions. Former patients who are now clients of ours have described a man who was seen as a pillar of the community as the news has shaken the local people of the Arnold area to the very core.
A common thing that most of our clients have said – of which many of them had been a patient of Mr D’Mello’s for more than two decades – was that the Daybook Practice that he operated at was often rushed and very busy. It has been described as a ‘conveyor belt’ system where patient turnaround was fast – which perhaps explains why the disgraced dentist decided to ignore infection control procedures in the first place.
But there is never an excuse for putting the lives of innocent people at risk. We put our faith in the NHS, and for the large part, they do a fantastic job. We all know just how stretched the NHS is in general and I have a lot of respect for the hard working men and women who are battling everyday to cope with higher demands on tighter budgets.
But the media has painted a very different story when it comes to Mr D’Mello. He’s certainly not short of cash if the reports in to his wealth are correct, and it seems that he may have been putting profits before patients in seeing as many people as he can in a day to keep his personal gain high – at the expense of innocent people’s health.
We can only speculate as to what drove a well liked and well respected individual to turn his back on his duties to adhere to important infection control procedures. Such basic things were allegedly ignored – the use of poorly sterilised equipment; the reuse of gloves; failing to wash his hands.
But as investigations and reports continue to delve deeper in to the ‘Dirty Dentist’ we are hearing more and more about his lack of care for when it comes to important rules and procedures.
We’re hearing stories of poor record keeping which could cause a real nightmare for both the NHS investigations and legal proceedings against him. We’re hearing claims that medical equipment was being stored in toilets – which serves only to add more insult to the thousands of patients who have been put at risk through a lack of care for people’s wellbeing.
The appalling allegations as to the extent and lengths of the deception that Mr D’Mello has gone to is causing growing concerns as to what we might find out next. Patients are waiting anxiously for testing and results, and we fear that we’re still yet to hear the worst of it as police continue to investigate the death of a former patient Amy Duffield.
We’re urging anyone who needs legal advice and representation to contact our specialist Daybrook Dental Team on 0800 634 7575.
