Dentistry in Barnsley
Introduction
The dental sector has faced particular challenges during the pandemic due to the close proximity of the dentist to the airways of patients and the many treatments involving aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). The use of high speed drills in dentistry is classed as an AGP.
Prior to the pandemic, Healthwatch (nationally and locally) were recording problems with residents accessing dental services. However, from March 2020 there was a sharp increase in the number of residents contacting their local Healthwatch as dentists closed their doors during the first wave. We were advised that if a resident was in urgent need of dental treatment which was life threatening; they would be seen at one of the Urgent Dental Centres which were being set up around the country. Our nearest one was Sheffield, although actual locations were not given out to prevent residents turning up without an appointment.
What Healthwatch Barnsley are hearing
Over 70% of the calls we have received on dental services have been regarding residents being unable to access routine dental appointments, either because they are not “registered” with a dentist or their dentist is only covering emergency treatment.
Due to covid-19, I have been unable to have any dental work done. I understand social distancing and PPE and all that but please give us a little bit of advice and help. I've been struggling with toothache now since the middle of April and it’s doing my head in. My dentist won’t see me as it isn't classed as an emergency
What we have done
We have passed our intelligence on to Healthwatch England and continued to attend timely meetings/briefing sessions with the Dental Commissioning Team for Yorkshire and the Humber.
Healthwatch England continue to lobby in Parliament and recently teamed up with the British Dental Association to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider the future of NHS Dental Services in the 2021 Spending Review (appendix a).
During October 2021, Healthwatch Barnsley contacted 28 dental surgeries in the Barnsley area to ask if they were currently accepting new NHS patients. Only 2 could offer an appointment for a routine dental check on the NHS, and both had a 6 to 8 weeks waiting time. Many of the surgeries said they were accepting NHS patients but the waiting time was anything from 6 months to 2 years.
16 of the dental surgeries we contacted said they are not currently taking on NHS patients and are not currently operating a waiting list. They either had no idea when they would be taking on NHS patients for routine treatment or they already had an unmanageable waiting list.
Next steps
Healthwatch Barnsley will continue to collect intelligence about local NHS dental services (or lack of) and will follow the journey as the commissioning comes under the newly formed Integrated Care Systems which will have a more local approach.
Our fear going forward is that all the previous good work which has been done around oral hygiene will now fall by the wayside as residents are not able to get routine NHS dental care. These are often residents with, for example, complex health needs, living in areas of high deprivation or from minority ethnic groups.
