NOW WAIT 19 MONTHS FOR DENTAL TREATMENT

Covid aftermath leaves Scots patients facing backlog of agonising delays for appointments

DENTAL patients in Scotland are facing waits of up to 85 weeks for some procedures, new figures reveal.

An NHS Borders report showed inpatients last month had faced the lengthiest delays for general or routine dental appointments or treatment, while outpatients had waited up to 43 weeks.

Elsewhere, some patients have already had appointments scheduled for next year cancelled as dental practices and clinics try to work through a massive backlog built up during the pandemic.

One patient said she will have waited two years by the time she expects to be seen.

It comes as a leading medic accused dentists of ‘completely unacceptable’ levels of activity, with some NHS-registered practices making no claims for carrying out NHS work.

In a letter, Scotland’s chief dental officer Tom Ferris said: ‘There are a number of practices that are

currently operating below 20 per cent activity, some below 10 per cent and, unfortunately, we also have evidence of no-claims activity.

‘In the absence of clear mitigating circumstances, this is completely unacceptable to ministers.’

At present, practices in Scotland are open but most are running at a fraction of their former capacity.

Under strict Covid protocols, treatment rooms must be thoroughly cleaned between patients and need to be left empty for a period of time after some procedures.

Many clinics say they are only able to see around 20 per cent of their usual patient numbers. NHS staff absences are also up 266 per cent compared with the week to May 11.

Although the NHS Borders waiting

‘This is completely unacceptable’

times refer to hospital patients, the Mail is aware of patients elsewhere who are facing similar delays in trying to get an appointment at dental practices.

Carer Vanessa Wilson, from Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, said that she has been waiting since before lockdown began last March to get a filling and some root treatment after repeated cancellations.

Most recently, she had an appointment for February of next year cancelled. She was told this was a result of the pandemic. Mrs Wilson, 52, said: ‘I don’t know how they can cancel an appointment for 2022. They don’t know what will be happening in February of next year.’

The British Dental Association’s chair of the Scotland Dental Practice Committee (SDPC), David McColl, said: ‘The general feedback is dentists are still only seeing emergency and urgent cases and anyone who has a concern about their oral health. We are a long, long way from routine examination and recalls.’

Commenting on the waiting lists, SDPC member Jeff Ellis said: ‘When people phone for check-ups we tell them we are working at much reduced capacity and have a huge backlog, with all our patients being due an exam.

‘If we were to get back to normal tomorrow it could take six months to get through them – we anticipate longer – as decay will be more extensive and take longer to treat.’

However, the British Dental Association (BDA) hit out at the figures around practice activity levels, saying there ‘may be valid reasons for reporting little or no activity – for instance, some dentists and their staff may be self-isolating’.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Annie Wells said: ‘These appointment delays for patients are completely unacceptable. Nobody should be waiting well over a year.’

NHS Borders said that it recognised some patients were facing longer waits for dental treatment.

A spokesman added: ‘We are working closely with our primary care colleagues to reduce waiting times wherever possible. All NHS general dental services practices in the Borders are open and working hard to see their registered patients as well as manage the backlog of care created by the pandemic.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The dental sector has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Pre-Covid levels of patient volume are currently not achievable with physical distancing and other health protection measures in place.

‘NHS dental teams continue to exercise clinical judgment and patients will be prioritised on need to access treatment, as we start to address the backlog of patients.’

He added: ‘The overwhelming majority of dental practices are seeing as many patients as possible within the current constraints.

‘Boards are working with a small minority of practices to ensure they are able to meet the same levels of activity.’

‘Long, long way from routine’