What steps is the Welsh Government taking to improve the availability of, and reduce waiting times for, treatment by NHS dentists in Mid and West Wales?
We are making good progress with the recovery of dental services but dentistry is one of the most complex areas of primary care in terms of the reinstatement of services.
Dental services remain in the Amber phase of recovery. In this phase, dental practices are now providing a full range of care and treatment for patients, including aerosol generating procedures such as fillings. However, as Covid-19 is still in circulation public health measures - physical distancing, enhanced PPE, and infection control requirements - mean fewer patients can be ‘seen’ in a clinical session.
There is a clear requirement to see patients according to need. Practices have been asked to treat people who have experienced problems during lockdown first. We also need to prioritise care for those who had treatment delayed as a result of the pandemic.
If capacity allows in a practice which has been active in addressing urgent problems to date, ‘routine assessments’ can be offered. However, there is a need to manage patient expectations as throughput will be reduced and practices could be overwhelmed by requests for ‘routine check-ups’.
We have worked with Health Boards to ensure that as part of the recovery of services, measures are included to ensure dental practices see new patients. If dental treatment is urgent or the patient is in pain there is provision in place to provide care quickly. However, there will be a delay for new patients looking for routine care.
We have also provided funding of £450,000 to Health Boards to support dental practices providing NHS services install new ventilation equipment. This is aimed at reducing the time required between patient treatments. Many Health Boards provided additional funding to match that allocated by Welsh Government.