Calderdale dental practices have waiting lists of nearly 200 people waiting for care

Councillors and council staff made the discover in a “mystery shopper” exercise aimed at surveying availability on an NHS dentist in the borough.

Members of the council’s Adults, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board were told an initial report, compiled by review group members Coun Marilyn Greenwood and Coun Mike Barnes would be a starting point for further work.

The report included the findings from the December 2019 mystery shopper exercise, where calls were made to 17 NHS-only practices, five combined private and NHS practices and five private patient only practices, with another six unable to be contacted despite numerous attempts on different days and at different times.

The caller posed as a member of the public seeking dental care for herself and her children, said the report, finding that eight of the practices were found to be taking on NHS child patients only at the time of contact and just one taking on NHS adult and child patients.

The expected waiting time for places at NHS practices varied between a few weeks and more than a year.

The mystery shopper was told by some private practices that the children of registered patients covered by a private dental care plan could receive treatment free of charge, says the report.

Coun Greenwood (Lib Dem, Greetland and Stainland), who had previously raised the issue at Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Board, explained the background to the report was learning that across the country children under ten were having to have teeth extracted in hospital care and provision in Calderdale was very important.

“I was astounded how many of our children are suffering.

“It is a large area to improve, the dental service – we are not training enough dentists – but have got to start somewhere and do something for the most vulnerable members of society at risk,” she said.

Coun Barnes (Lab, Skircoat) said children and adults dental issues were interlinked, which is why it needed to be considered by both scrutiny boards.

One issue was people being reluctant to take their child to a dentist because they did not believe their child could get NHS dental treatment, and because there was a charge they do not go, he said.

Coun Sophie Whittaker (Con, Rastrick) said she believed it as not a capacity issue with children.

Coun Greenwood said the findings showed if a carer was a private patient those practices would see children for free.

Dentists with NHS contracts had to see children free of charge, said Coun Whittaker.

But Coun Barnes said: “However, in our research found that obstacles were possibly put in the way.”

These included saying there were no spaces available at that point in time or that practices would take the child on if the adult enrolled with the surgery as a private patient, he said.

Coun Whittaker said people needed to be more aware of what the contracts actually said and Coun Barnes agreed it was a good point which needed publicising.

Dentists who were fulfilling 100 per cent of their contract were unlikely to take on any more patients because they were not funded beyond that figure.

“We were very, very surprised at how it works and how it doesn’t work, mostly the latter,” said Coun Barnes.

There was no central list of dentists, he said.

Issues councillors agreed to take forward fro the report includes encouraging more preventative work, including by dental practices, seeking advice from the West Yorkshire Oral Health Advisory Group, and applying pressure in conjunction with the Health and Wellbeing Board to encourage the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership to include dentistry and oral health in its top ten priorities.

They recommend the Health and Wellbeing Board should raise oral health’s profile further and recommends the council adds a dentist to the membership of the board.

Their final recommendation is that each of Calderdale’s five health locality partnerships considers how to drive forward oral health.