Dental health care access for the disabled and infirm

The author conducted a visual survey of the NHS dental practices registered as operating within the Redcar and Cleveland Borough.

In summary this survey identifies: Five major districts within the Borough representing c25% of the Borough’s population are denied local access to a dentist. This statistic will impact significantly on the NHS’s desire to improve dental and oral heath in Redcar and Cleveland. Five of the fourteen dental practices offer home visits in the districts: Skelton, Redcar, Norman by and Guisborough x 2. Which eases the access to dental practice position for the disabled and infirm. Two of the dental practices (Redcar and Skelton) operate within buildings that are specifically designed to facilitate access for wheelchair users, the disabled and or infirm.

The report contains 2 recommendations which include that this report be sent to NHS (Dental) as intelligence, and action as appropriate, for their Improving Dental Care and Oral Health programme. That the commissioners for NHS (Dental) services note the absence of dental practices within the Borough affecting c25% of the Borough’s population of 135k residents.