Agenda item

The Wellbeing Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel will receive an update on how Access to Primary Care Dental Services has improved in B&NES.

The Panel are asked to note the update.

The Chairman invited Greg Hartley-Brewer to read his statement.

Greg Hartley-Brewer read out his statement where he highlighted that he had difficulty in finding an NHS dentist when he moved to Bath.  He also said that he received poor treatment on number of occasions with ADP Oldfield Park Dental Practice.  When he moved to another practice (1a Queen Square) he was asked to pay £35 for hygienist service which he felt he should not pay as NHS patient.  Mr Hartley-Brewer acknowledged that the Panel had a review on access to dental services which did not include quality of service from the NHS dentists and asked the Panel to take an investigation into the NHS/private relationship in Bath and North East Somerset and set up a system to monitor the type and number of treatments using the General Clinical Data Set to make sure all treatments are being provided close to national averages.

A full copy of the statement from Greg Hartley-Brewer is available on the minute book in Democratic Services.

Members of the Panel said that although they did not agree with everything that was mentioned in the statement, they felt that Mr Hartley-Brewer highlighted some really serious and important issues in relation with the quality of service provided by the NHS dentists.

The Chairman invited Julia Griffith (NHS BANES) to introduce the report.

The Panel made the following points:

The Panel asked about over-providing the service and is that the case that some areas might be saturated with service while there is a deficit in the others.

Julia Griffith responded that when the NHS dental service was commissioned, the NHS looked at the areas of deprivation, by using health needs assessment. In the main there might be some areas where there is more demand than supply but across the whole area there are practices still with capacity to take on new patients.

The Panel commented that people do stay with their dentists, even if they become private, mainly because of the comfort that they feel with their current dentists.

Some Members of the Panel said that in their Wards, such as Keynsham Wards, there is a perception that there are no NHS dentists.

Julia Griffith took that on board and said that the NHS could use particular publications, which people read, where a number for dentists could be included.

The Panel asked about the implication from Mr Hartley-Brewer that the NHS dentistry is inferior to private care.

Julia Griffith responded that the NHS does monitor commissioning of dental care and also quality of services.  Organisations like Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspect both, the NHS and private.  Julia Griffith said she will write a response to the issues raised in Mr Hartley-Brewer statement.

The Panel asked about the initiatives to encourage parents to take their children to dentist regularly (as a result of junk food, etc).

Julia Griffith replied that there are a number of initiatives commissioned by the NHS.  Health Promotion Team goes to schools etc and raise awareness.

The Panel suggested that the NHS should use youth clubs in raising dental awareness.  Julia Griffith took that on board.

Julia Griffith explained to the Panel that the NHS asks dentists if they are accepting NHS patients, and if they say yes, their contact details are available on the NHS website.

The Panel made the final comment that they are alarmed that the quality of service might not be on the level as it should be. 

It was RESOLVED to:

1. Request from Julia Griffith to draft a response to the issues raised in the statement from Greg Hartley-Brewer before the next meeting of the Panel.  A copy of the response to be sent to the Panel.

2.  Request from Julia Griffith, (and/or CQC), to produce a report on the Quality of NHS Dental Services.  Report to be on the agenda for the next meeting of the Panel.