The NHS has "no way" of keeping dentists in public health and staff have quit after becoming “tired and fed up” as a health charity has warned Liverpool’s access to dentistry could get worse.
After a report by Healthwatch Liverpool on the state of oral health care in the city said it could be years until patients can access an NHS dentist, representatives from the health service have conceded things may get worse. The charity, which assesses how health and social care services are used across the country, released its latest findings which was analysed by members of the Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Board.
Sarah Thwaites, Healthwatch Liverpool chief executive, told members how for some, their only treatment is an emergency service when the pain is bad enough. She added: “It’s frustrating for people who feel like they’re going round and round in circles.”
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Ms Thwaites added the situation could worsen in five to 10 years time, with no NHS centres taking on new adult patients throughout the most of 2022. Responding, Tom Knight, head of primary care for NHS England, said issues around access to dentistry had been “highlighted and accelerated” by the covid-19 pandemic.
He added how the existing national contract for dentistry was not helping and was “no longer fit for purpose.” Mr Knight said across Liverpool, urgent care centres set up during the pandemic have been left open and he had heard “horrible, horrible reports” from patients.
Mr Knight told the board while there is a “slow increase” in activity at city practices, many people put off treatment before covid, resulting in longer appointments now being needed. The NHS England official said the health service was seeking to support practices across Liverpool.
He did concede however the NHS has “no way of making dentists stay” in public health and a number of dental nurses had left as they were “tired and fed up.” From April 1, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside will take over commissioning of dentistry services across the region which Mr Knight said he hoped would lead to improvements.
Prof Matt Ashton, Liverpool director of public health, said the city’s dentistry situation is “not good enough” and stressed the need for collaborative working to address the challenges. A report from Dr Yvonne Dailey said 37% of five-year-olds in Liverpool already have some sort of tooth decay, a situation Prof Ashton said he did not expect to improve.
He added how it was “right and proper” to focus efforts on “this vitally important agenda” and an appropriate offer was needed for the level of demand across Liverpool. “We’ve got to get serious about dental health,” he said.
Cllr Frazer Lake, deputy mayor and cabinet member for social care and health, called on dentists in the city to commit to taking on an additional 50 -100 NHS patients. He said: “We know the current state of affairs with relation to residents’ access to an NHS dentist.
“Even our looked after children, who should have a check up at least once a year are suffering due to this. Oral health is just as important as our mental health and physical health and can cause issues with both if left untreated and seen.
“Something needs to be done about this and it needs to be done now.”
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