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More than 1,000 children could be set to get dental treatment sooner as part of a new Government scheme to tackle long waiting lists.
Health has commissioned five private practices to see patients aged between four and 11 free of charge, who are on the waiting list for their first routine appointment with the community dental department.
The scheme is being funded by the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy and aims to help reduce the waiting list for the department which it says was severely impacted by the pandemic. The safety measures implemented to mitigate the spread of the virus meant that the number of patients the Community Dental team could see was severely restricted.
However, parents have been complaining of long waiting lists for many years prior to the pandemic with Express reporting in 2017 that some parents were having to pay thousands in private dental care for their children due to “excessive” waiting times of up to five years. At the time, a survey by dental health promotion charity Super Smiles found that half of children aged five had never visited the dentist, while around 3,000 children had never been registered with one.
Last year, co-founder of oral hygiene charity Super Smiles, Sarah Pollard said that “children are waiting seven years for Orthodontic treatment and in the community department over 5,000 children are awaiting a dental appointment".
She explained that "pre‐Covid, children in Jersey already had limited access to dental care with lengthy waits for appointments that did not support the national recommended standard of care", but that the pandemic had meant that inequality in oral health is now "far greater than before the pandemic".
Pictured: Super Smiles is run by Dental Hygienist Caroline Wetherall (left) alongside Dentist Sarah Pollard (right).
Eligible for the new scheme are patients who require routine appointments aged between four and 11 and were on the waiting list for the community dental team as of 31 October.
HCS initially launched the partnership working with the five practices – Smile Group, Colomberie Clinic and Dental Practice, The Dental Studio, Confidence Dental and Wellbeing and Windsor Crescent Dental Practice – as a pilot earlier this year, with 200 patients opting in.
Following their initial appointment, a patient either remains under the care of the private dentist for subsequent treatment as part of the scheme, or, if they do not require treatment they are transferred back into the care of the community dental team and will be seen again within an agreed recall date of between six and 12 months, depending on the patient’s clinical need.
Due to the success of the pilot, the scheme has now been fully rolled out and has been extended to a further 833 patients.
Pictured: Waiting times for children dental appointments remain lengthy with some parents reporting recently they had been waiting for two years.
The private practices, who underwent a tendering process, charge HCS an agreed set amount for each appointment or treatment they undertake. Patients who choose not to opt-in to the scheme remain on the waiting list for the community dental team.
Six-year-old Clara Trilho has already been seen under the scheme. Her mother, Ana, said: “Teeth are so important. If you don’t have good teeth, you don’t eat well and your health goes down. It’s been a relief that she has been seen. The team were really nice and she enjoyed going. She is booked again in three months’ time for a check-up.”
Sarah Evans, General Manager for the Community Dental team, explained: “By working with our colleagues in the private sector we are able to get on top of our waiting lists which have grown during the Covid pandemic. This scheme is great news for our routine patients as it means that they are being seen in a timely manner so that they can keep on top of their oral health.”
Pictured: Deputy Karen Wilson, Minister for Health and Social Services.
The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Karen Wilson, said: “I am pleased to see progress around waiting lists for children’s health. This is a great example of primary and secondary care working in partnership to deliver better services for children who have been affected by delays caused by the pandemic, and as a start of the turnaround for HCS.”
Dr Daniela Machado, from Colomberie Clinic, added: “I think the initiative is fantastic and a great way to help reduce the hospital waiting list. I worked previously as a dental officer at Jersey General Hospital, so I can appreciate the hard work that is put in by the team there to reduce waiting lists whilst treating patients and tackling emergencies.
“The scheme has run very smoothly from both an administrative and clinical perspective. Parents and patients are very happy to be seen so quickly under the scheme and to have any issues or treatments dealt with promptly.”
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