Bid to return dental access to 1993 levels in Buckinghamshire (From Bucks Free Press)

Bid to return dental access to 1993 levels in Buckinghamshire

5:25pm Tuesday 27th October 2009 in

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HEALTH bosses have pledged to return dental access to 1993 levels.

They are moving to give 58 per cent of patients access to an NHS dentist by March 2011 – up from about 40 per cent at the moment.

Nationally, health bosses have been told to hit 64 per cent by then – but local managers have negotiated a lower figure with top chiefs.

They hope to improve to 45 per cent by next March after years of dwindling numbers following the introduction of a controversial new contract.

Colin Thompson, director of commissioning at Buckinghamshire NHS Primary Care Trust, hailed the news as “fantastic”.

And chairman Stewart George said: “This is really good news for patients.”

Yet the authority – which says it gets less cash than other PCTs – has warned it needs an extra £2.6m to hit the target, otherwise the final figure would be about 54 per cent.

Many dentists stopped treating NHS patients as the 2006 contract paid a flat rate for a year rather than for every patient seen.

The cash-strapped PCT admits there has been a “lack of investment in new dental services”.

A survey of 65 practices showed 54 per cent were taking on new patients.

And it said people needed more complex treatment needing longer treatment, making the targets “exceptionally challenging”.

Furthermore, the level of demand for dentists is “not known” the report says (see link, bottom of story for full report).

However, the PCT said it had taken steps to improve access since last year including an extra manager and trainees and two news practices in Buckingham and Thame.

Extra sessions were being offered in the five months from November, it said, meaning an extra 14,000 people will get a dentist in the next “few months”.

The cash must not be used for any other purpose, the PCT’s board agreed today.

Board non-executive director Michael Williamson said: “This is a really good news story about extension of services that people care about and really need.”

An NHS survey this week shows 90 per cent of 1,000 surveyed in Bucks were “satisfied” with access to dentists.

This was higher than Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.