PATIENTS at a dental practice where a rogue dentist who once worked there has been struck off have been reassured they were never at risk.

Dr Bernice Lindiwe Kweyama falsified records by wrongly claiming she had extracted teeth from 25 patients in order to meet her treatment targets.

When colleagues at Canon Street Dental Practice, Taunton, discovered what she had done between December 2011 and October 2012, she was reported to the General Dental Council and suspended.

Her dishonesty was uncovered because her records showed she had not used local anaesthetic in some cases and in others she wrote “no treatment required” before later noting that a tooth had been taken out the same day.

Kweyama, who lived in Waterleaze, Taunton, at the time, did not attend the GDC hearing that found her guilty of making false entries in patient records; causing or permitting claims for Band 2 courses of treatment when the patients had received Band 1 treatment; and of dishonest conduct with the intention of inflating her units of dental activity (UDAs).

The council heard that she did so to meet her annual target of 8,000 UDAs.

The GDC’s professional conduct committee concluded: “Ms Kweyama's conduct was serious and fell far below the standards expected of a registered dental professional.

“Ms Kweyama's dishonesty involved claims made to the NHS directly in the context of professional activity.

“The NHS requires professionals to conduct themselves with integrity and the system is based on trust.

“By making dishonest claims, Ms Kweyama abused the trust placed in her as a dental professional.

“In making false entries in patient records, she did not put the interest of her patients first. Ms Kweyama's conduct breached the GDC's Standards Guidance.”

Kweyama, whose current whereabouts are unknown, has 28 days to appeal.

A spokesman for IDH, which operates Canon Street Dental Practice, said: “IDH have robust procedures in place to ensure the safety of patients.

“As a result of these safeguards, we shared concerns about Dr Kweyama with the GDC.

“The GDC have subsequently suspended Dr Kweyama and she has not worked in our Taunton practice or for IDH since 2012.

“We would like to reassure patients that their dental health was never at risk and the IDH team in our Taunton practice continue to put their patients’ safety first.”