Access to an NHS dentist in County Durham

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Summary of report content

This report has been written in response to many people contacting Healthwatch County Durham about the difficulties they were experiencing accessing an NHS dentist appointment

Out of a possible 54 dental practices researchers spoke to 42 and asked a set of 7 questions. The questions were based on NHS appointment availability, availability of emergency treatment and accessibility.

The answers have given a clear picture that Country Durham has a similar situation to other counties in England. It shows that most Dental Practices are full and therefore cannot treat new patients. The exception to this in some cases, was children. From the practices that responded 35 could not take any new registered NHS patients, but 3 would register children only. A further 4 answered yes without clarification on whether it was adult or children’s registrations. However, emergency dental care for unregistered NHS patients was available in all practices.

The report contains 6 recommendations.

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General details

Local Healthwatch
Healthwatch County Durham
Publication date
Date evidence capture began
Date evidence capture finished
Key themes
Access to services
Booking appointments
Cost and funding of services
Written information, guidance and publicity
Service organisation, delivery, change and closure
Waiting for appointments or treatment; waiting lists for treatment

Methodology and approach

Was the work undertaken in partnership with another organisation?
No
Primary research method used
Observation (eg Enter and View)
If an Enter and View methodology was applied, was the visit announced or unannounced?
N/A

Details of health and care services included in the report

Details of health and care services included in the report
Dentist

Details of people who shared their views

Number of people who shared their views
42
Age group
Not known
Gender
Not known
Is the gender identity of people in the report the same as the sex they were assigned at birth?
Not known
Sexual orientation
Not known
Does this report feature carers?
No
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