To support the development of the NHS 10 Year Plan the Secretary of State for Health established four working groups to look at four different key themes:
- ‘I can stay healthy and manage my health in a way that works for me‘
- ‘I can access the high-quality and effective care I need, when and where I need it‘
- ‘My care is centred around my needs, and I am listened to‘
- ‘I am treated in a fair and inclusive way, irrespective of who I am‘
Of these four working groups the second, ‘I can access the high-quality and effective care I need, when and where I need it’, placed a strong emphasis on NHS dental care. The report makes several references to difficulties accessing NHS dentistry, as a major concern the public has raised with Healthwatch.
The final report set out a short, medium and long term vision for oral health in line with the timeframes of the NHS 10 Year Plan. The membership of the working group can be found here.
In 2 years:
- expand water fluoridation to additional 1.6 million people
- targeted universal supervised toothbrushing programme in place across England
- services in place to deliver 700,000 urgent care appointments, increasing levels of access to urgent and emergency dental care for patients in need
- better access to NHS appointments in areas that need them most – through more dentists employed in underserved areas
- implementation of interim changes to existing dental contract including regulatory changes
In 5 years:
- a new dental contract in place which has been designed with the support of the profession, incentivises prevention as well as high quality routine and urgent care, and prioritises care for those with the greatest needs
- increase in dental activity and increase in percentage of patients able to get an NHS appointment of those who try
By 2035:
- expansion to cover more of the population to meet unmet need
- reduction in decayed, missing and/or filled teeth as measured by oral health surveys. Impact on hospital admissions attributable to dental decay
- more people in study to become a dentist/dental care practitioner
- higher proportion of NHS dental care being delivered through therapists and hygienists
- digital transformation /integration of dentistry and oral health into neighbourhood health service
Elsewhere in the report it is recommended that dentistry is included in the NHS App, to both facilitate improved information and knowledge of oral health but also booking of appointments. The report cited strong concerns over dental deserts and the importance of ensuring that all communities have access to all parts of primary care in order to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes.
Of the other reports, the last two make passing references to dentistry.
