Accessing a dentist in Rotherham

Healthwatch Rotherham undertook research on dentistry due to the large amount of enquiries they have received on this topic over the past 12 months. They collected data via surveys, previous enquiries and case studies, and speaking directly to dental practices. They had 279 responses to an online survey which ran between December 2021 and January 2022.

Over seven in ten participants are currently registered with an NHS dentist in Rotherham. Nearly nine in ten of these have tried to book an appointment with their dentist in the last 12 months, with over four in five of these being successful. Nearly two thirds of unregistered patients attempted to register with an NHS dentist in Rotherham. Only just over one in five of these were successful.

The majority of appointments were for check-ups. The latest NHS stakeholder update states that patients can wait up to 24 months before requiring a check-up, and that urgent appointments will be prioritised, which can explain why there are such long wait-times.

Healthwatch Rotherham also contacted each dentist in Rotherham, and out of the 18 contacted, 16 of these were not accepting new patients. Many did not have a waiting list and for those that did, they were up to 2 ½ years long. Only one dental practice’s information was correctly listed on the NHS ‘Find a Dentist’ tool, with seven stating they were taking on new patients, when in fact they were not.

The report contains two recommendations about better communication with the public and the need for the NHS ‘Find a dentist’ tool to be regularly updated.