A DENTIST has been barred from treating National health Service patients while a lack of practitioners has led to many people being turned away from practices in Dorset.

Dr John Kee Cho, who has 20 years' experience as a dentist, was refused permission to take on NHS patients at Prospect Dental Practice in Weymouth, which he opened earlier this month.

He claims that a poor reference from a former employer was the only reason for the refusal and has taken legal advice to appeal the decision.

This comes as it emerged there are currently no practices in South West Dorset taking on new NHS patients.

Korean-born Dr Kee Cho, 48, was a dentist in Spain for several years before starting at the Bridges Dental Practice in Weymouth, where he worked for 11 months. He said: "I was rejected because of a reference from my previous employer, even though I worked hard and my patients were happy with me.

"It's a shame because I would like to work for the NHS. In Weymouth there are a lot of people struggling to find an NHS dentist so it seems crazy that my application was rejected. My lawyers are preparing an appeal. This is not justice. The committee deciding this should be impartial and objective, but they didn't want to hear my side."

Adrian Wright, South West Dorset Primary Care Trust contract manager, confirmed that Dr Kee Cho's application was refused but declined to comment any further until the appeal has been heard.

He said 91,300 people in the area are registered with an NHS dentist and plans are under way to open a new NHS practice in Weymouth over the next few months.

Liz Davies, dental health supervisor at Dorset Dental Helpline, said a lack of NHS dentists has reached crisis point in the county. She said the crisis deepened when 3,200 patients were de-registered from Greenhill Dental Practice after the clinic stopped all NHS work earlier this year. She added: "This is the worst it has ever been. We are able to give people emergency appointments but that's just a one-off. There is nobody registering new NHS patients.

"It is dire and we really need more NHS dentists."

The helpline receives on average 13,500 calls a year from people wanting to register with an NHS dentist.