Salaried Dental Service Introduces Interim Measures to Deal with Recruitment Difficulties

The Department of Health’s Primary Care Salaried Dental Service has introduced interim measures to prioritise treatment because of difficulties in recruiting dental practitioners.

Several dentists have recently left the Service and it is proving difficult to replace them. This means that the workload generated by the current number of patients when compared to the remaining number of dentists has become unworkable and it is proving impossible to offer the usual level of service provision. Specifically, there is concern that waiting times for treatment may increase further to unacceptable levels, if such treatment is not prioritised over routine check-ups.

To address this problem and to ensure that we continue to provide the best service possible for the patients with the most need whilst we continue to try to recruit dentists, appointments will be prioritised for those patients with toothache or who need treatment, together with those who have been waiting the longest for a recall appointment. This will mean that patients who are in generally good dental health will normally have to wait longer between routine check-ups.

These changes will help to reduce waiting lists for treatment and help us to manage demand more fairly. The changes will be applied at the following Salaried Dental Service Clinics:

• Central Community Health Centre, Westmoreland Road, Douglas
• Hillside Dental Clinic, Ballakermeen Road, Douglas

Community Dental Services for vulnerable patient groups will not be affected by these changes.

In the meantime, the Department will continue with efforts to recruit dentists to the Service. Minister for Health, Mr David Anderson, MHK, said

“The Department is committed to securing the future of NHS Dental Services for the people of the Isle of Man and I wish to reassure patients that we are working hard to do this. I need to make it quite clear that this is not a cut in service; it is simply a matter of presently being unable to fill vacant posts, which sadly is a familiar problem throughout the UK.”

What will this mean for patients:

• • Patients with dental problems will be offered an appointment as soon as possible within a 48-hour period.
• Patients undergoing existing treatment will have that course of treatment completed.
• Recall appointments will be offered to those patients who have waited longest.
• Some patients will have to wait longer between routine check ups