An investigation by The Times has found that millions of NHS patients are struggling to access dentistry, with 24 local authorities in England not accepting any more NHS dental patients.
Of the surgeries with information on the NHS Choices website about whether they are accepting new NHS dental patients, 49% aren’t taking any further adults and 42% are refusing to see any more children. The NHS Choices website used for the survey only holds information for 40% of the practices listed, for the other 60% patients must contact the practice themselves to find out availability.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has pointed to the current NHS dental contract as the problem, highlighting the Government’s failure to honour two successive manifesto pledges to make a decisive break from the target driven contract system introduced in 2006.
“Access problems are now hitting patients across England,” BDA chair of General Dental Practice, Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, said. “Work on expanding access and encouraging child attendance is vital, but it is disingenuous to suggest that Government plans can achieve this.”
NHS statistics state that 96% of patients seeking a dental appointment at a practice they currently attend are successful. However, this figure drops to 74% of patients looking to seek a dental appointment in a different practice.
“A recent survey of patients showed that when people need an NHS dentist appointment, they are almost always able to get one, and that nearly nine times out of 10 their experience is positive,” Sara Hurley, chief dental officer at NHS England, said.