14 Kingsgate Street, inside the walls
The practice
Four surgeries, eleven of us, one decontamination room, and the same front door since 1978.
How it got here
Two dentists, forty-seven years
Alan Whitcombe opened at number 14 in 1978, in what had been a solicitor's front room. He took NHS patients from the day he opened and never stopped. Priya Raghunathan joined in 2004, bought the practice in 2009, and has kept the NHS contract through every year since — which, in Hampshire, now makes us unusual.
What has changed: four surgeries instead of two, digital radiography, intra-oral scanning instead of impression trays, and a decontamination room built to HTM 01-05 in 2016. What has not: you see the same clinician each time unless you ask otherwise, and the phone is answered by someone in the building.
- 1978
- Opened at number 14. Same front door.
- 4
- Surgeries, all with a screen you can see.
- 11
- Of us: three dentists, two therapists, six nurses and reception.
- 08:00
- When the phone is answered, Monday to Friday.
The question nobody asks out loud
How we clean things
Instruments leave the surgery in a sealed tray, are washer-disinfected, inspected under magnification, pouched, and autoclaved in a vacuum steriliser that prints a cycle record. Every pouch is batch-numbered and the batch is written into your notes, so if a cycle ever failed we could tell you exactly which appointments were affected.
That is the HTM 01-05 standard, and every registered practice in England has to meet it. We are describing it because almost nobody does, and because "we follow strict hygiene protocols" is not a description of anything.
If something goes wrong
Complaints, plainly
Tell the practice manager, in person, by phone or in writing. We acknowledge in three working days and aim to respond fully within ten. If we need longer we will tell you why and when.
If you are not satisfied with our response: for private treatment, the Dental Complaints Service; for NHS treatment, NHS England or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Concerns about a clinician's fitness to practise go to the General Dental Council, whose registration numbers are on the home page.
A printed copy of the full procedure is at reception and we will hand you one without being asked if you request it.
We publish the prices because a patient who is worried about money will put off the appointment, and a filling put off for two years is a root canal. It is not generosity. It is just cheaper for everyone if you come in.
Priya Raghunathan · principal dentist · GDC 104882