New dental practice in Plymouth put on hold as waiting list grows
A project to set up a new practice in the city centre for 3,500 patients was put forward to NHS England in February
Plans for a new dental practice to help tackle the oral health crisis in Plymouth have been put on hold by the NHS as the waiting list for treatment has grown.
A project to set up a new practice in the city centre for 3,500 patients was put forward to NHS England in February, with premises identified by the city council and staffing from final-year dental students.
Meanwhile the number of people on the waiting list for dental treatment in the city has grown during the pandemic from around 14,400 to 15,800 by September and has continued to increase.
One practice, SpaDental, has told 1,200 patients it is removing them from its list after a contract with the NHS was not renewed, councillors heard.
Councillors were told at a meeting on Wednesday that NHS England had not progressed the city centre practice proposals as a funding decision was waiting for the completion of an oral health needs assessment across the whole of the South West.
The regional head of primary care for NHS England, Ian Biggs, said the report was expected in January which would allow the next stage of the commissioning process to start.
He said the Plymouth project would then be assessed alongside others in the region as the process had to comply with the rules and legal framework for commissioning new services.
He acknowledged that the waiting list for the city had grown, driven in recent months as a result of the halt in dental work during the lockdown and a slowdown due to hygiene measures as a result of the pandemic after services resumed.
He said a network of dental clinics had been set up for emergency care, and dentists were being asked to take on more urgent work.
Plymouth councillors pleaded with NHS leaders to support the city centre practice project and take action to help solve the problems in Plymouth, which were identified for the first time in an oral health needs assessment for the city published in February.
That found difficulties in accessing dental care in the city existed before the pandemic, and there was a direct link between deprivation and poor oral health. The report highlighted that children in Plymouth were four times as likely to have teeth removed under general anaesthetic than elsewhere in the region.
Rob Witton, a consultant in dental public health and chief executive of Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise CIC, which will staff the city centre clinic with final-year students, said it was a specific solution designed for the city and was an education-led project, backed by Plymouth University and Health Education England.
Mr Biggs said the proposals needed to be scrutinised so they complied with the legal framework for commissioning, but he said NHS England took the situation in Plymouth seriously and was committed to improving oral health in the city and across the region.
The issue was raised at a meeting of the city council’s dental health select committee, held to consider the response to its recommendations for action to improve oral health.
Councillors heard that the region’s full budget for NHS dental treatment of £245million was fully committed. But practices did not always complete all the work agreed, so funding could be moved within the year for others to do extra treatment so the maximum number of patients could be seen.
The city council’s Cabinet member for health Kate Taylor said the situation in Plymouth had worsened since the spring with more people waiting for treatment, and there was an urgent need for action to improve oral health in the city.
She said: “We know that some of our residents are at greater risk of tooth decay, gum disease or mouth cancer, and there is a strong relationship between dental decay and social deprivation.”
The Labour councillor added: “I cannot overstate how vital it is that NHS England step up and help us now.”
Cllr Jemima Laing, Cabinet member for children, said: “I am imploring you to please take us and what we are telling you seriously. This cannot be allowed to continue any longer.
“We need to find a solution together to this problem and we cannot keep letting children in our city be failed in this most fundamental way.”
The Labour councillor added that she was encouraged by what she had heard during the meeting, and stressed councillors would continue to press for action on improvements.