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Dental service in decay
Dental care is decaying according to borough dentists who warn patients are getting a raw deal as a result of the new national NHS contract.
Patients and dentists in Richmond were surveyed as part of the national Dentistry Watch collection of views on services.
Dentists said in the survey that a government contract introduced in April and aimed at simplifying charges and patient access had not made it easier for residents to get an NHS appointment.
Two thirds of the dentists that replied indicated only a quarter of their appointments are for NHS patients and two thirds don't provide all of the NHS treatments available.
Margaret Dangoor, chairman of the Richmond and Twickenham Patient and Public Involvement Forum (PPIF), said: "These findings indicate that the NHS dental system is letting many patients down and that dentists have concerns."
The survey also showed that nearly three-quarters of borough dentists are currently accepting new NHS patients although some are accepting children only. But a quarter of patients said they could not get an NHS dentist.
Additionally, 70 per cent of borough dentists said patients were declining treatment because of the costs involved.
Susie Sanderson, British Dental Association executive chairman, said: "This survey underlines the significant problems caused to both dentists and patients by the new dental contract. The picture it paints, of patients unable to access care, dentists struggling with the target-driven system and anxieties about the new charging system, is an all-too-familiar one. The new contract has done nothing to improve access for patients."
The survey was masterminded by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health after PPIFs nationwide were inundated by patient complaints about access to dental services. It was the largest ever carried out and was administered between July and September this year.
12:12pm Saturday 3rd November 2007
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