Nine in 10 NHS dental practices are unable to offer appointments to new adult patients, the 'most extensive survey of patient access ever undertaken' has found. Some 98 per cent of dentists in the North West are not accepting adult patients, while 83 per cent are not accepting child patients in the region.
The North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber are the worst affected, all reporting 98 per cent not accepting adults.
In a third of the UK's more than 200 council areas, the BBC's survey found no dentists taking on adult NHS patients, and eight in 10 NHS practices are not taking on children. The Department of Health said it had made an extra £50m available "to help bust the Covid backlogs" and that improving NHS access was a priority.
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But the British Dental Association is pressing the government to deliver urgent reform, as the new research from the BBC underlines the scale of the access crisis facing NHS patients across the region. 'The service is hanging by a thread', dental experts have warned as 'the service across England is being fuelled by a discredited NHS contract, which funds care for barely half the population and puts government targets ahead of patient care', they claim.
BBC News contacted nearly 7,000 NHS practices - believed to be almost all those offering general treatment to the public. The British Dental Association (BDA) called it "the most comprehensive and granular assessment of patient access in the history of the service".
The survey found:
- Across England, 91% of NHS practices were not accepting new adult patients, 4,933 of 5,416, rising to 97 per cent in the East Midlands, and 98 per cent in the South West, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber
- Of those practices not taking on adults in England, 23 per cent (1,124) said they had an open waiting list, and 16 per cent (791) said the wait time was a year or longer, or were unable to say how long it would be
- Out of 152 local authorities in England, BBC researchers did not successfully reach any practices accepting new adult NHS patients in 56 (37 per cent) local authorities
- In England, 79 per cent of NHS practices were not accepting new child patients, 4,293 of 5,416
- Access was best in London, where almost a quarter of practices were taking on new adult NHS patients
- One in 10 local authorities did not have any practices taking on under-16s for NHS treatment, despite children in full-time education being entitled to completely free care on the health service
- About 200 practices said they would take on a child under the NHS only if a parent signed up as a private patient
NHS England recently announced modest, marginal changes to this system, the BDA has said. However, the dental board added that the changes, which come without any new investment, will not address the problems patients face accessing services or keep dentists in the NHS.
Meanwhile, 'thousands of NHS dentists have left the service since lockdown'. Last week the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee dubbed the contract ‘not fit for purpose’, called for urgent reform and pledged a dedicated inquiry into the crisis in the service.
After a decade of cuts, the BDA estimates it would take an additional £880 million a year simply to restore funding to 2010 levels. Among the areas where BBC News researchers could not find a single practice accepting new adult patients was Lancashire.
Shawn Charlwood, Chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee said: “NHS dentistry is at a tipping point, with millions unable to get the care they need and more dentists leaving with every day that passes.
“We’re seeing the results of years of chronic neglect, set into overdrive by the pressures of the pandemic. The question now is will ministers step up before it’s too late?
“Nothing we’ve heard from government to date gives us any confidence this service has a future. Without real reform and fair funding NHS dentistry will die, and our patients will pay the price.”
“Improving patient access to NHS dental care is a government priority and the new reforms to the dental contract announced last month are an important step, allowing the best performing practices to see more patients, making better use of the range of professionals working in the sector such as dental therapists, hygienists and nurses, while also rewarding dentists more fairly for providing more complex care," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said.
“The NHS commits around £3 billion to dentistry each year and have made an extra £50 million to help bust the Covid backlogs, building on the unprecedented £1.7 billion support we provided during the pandemic, to protect teams and patients by paying dental practices for the work they would normally have carried out if it were not for Covid regulations.”
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