Orthodontic Care in West Essex
Download (PDF 2.89 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Essex wanted to understand young people's experience of orthodontic care to feed into recommissioning of services. They captured data in a number of ways.
Straightforward care seems to be working well in most cases, with most people’s experiences being positive, and the majority happy to recommend their orthodontist to friends and family. However, many of the processes and structures framing the technical procedures are not working.
Too many people are having to wait too long for their first appointment. This has come up throughout the survey and consultation process. However, it is of course important to be aware that Orthodontic services are still recovering from the legacy of the Covid pandemic.
People are not being offered a choice of location and time. An alarmingly high number of people were unaware that they had any say in where they were referred to. People are having to travel much further than they should have to and in a number of cases they are not referred to the closest option.
More complex cases where hospital treatment and multi-disciplinary teams are involved, are not getting the service they need. Healthwatch Essex continues to hear that people are not being listened to, they are not communicated with, and they face an ongoing ‘battle’.
The report has a number of recommendations about waiting times, referrals, choice, locations and weekend appointments.