Long waits for GA blamed on shortage of children’s nurses
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- Published: Monday, 18 July 2016 07:47
- Written by News Editor
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Children in North Manchester are facing waits of up to a year for tooth extractions, because of a severe shortage of children’s nurses. Pennine Acute hospital trust, which covers one of the worst areas in the country for child tooth decay, has a backlog of at least 300 cases. Local dentists say that they have been asked not to add any more children to the waiting list.
Pennine Acute covers one of the worst areas in the country for child tooth decay, but due to a shortage across the board, there is currently nowhere else to send patients. The trust says it will ensure ‘clinically urgent’ cases are dealt with ‘promptly’. Pennine Care could not provide a figure for the number of children waiting to be put on the waiting list.
Henry Ticehurst, Medical Director for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, told Manchester Evening News: “While there has been no change to Pennine Care’s dental provision or capacity, we are aware that Pennine Acute is currently experiencing a shortage of trained children’s nurses, which is a national issue. To ensure safety, this has meant a reduction in the number of procedures that can be carried out and, consequently, children are having to wait longer than usual.
“Since being made aware of the issues that Pennine Acute is experiencing, Pennine Care has been working hard to find alternative arrangements, to enable our dentists to continue carrying out procedures under general anaesthetic. We have been in contact with a number of other local partners, however we not reached a resolution at this time. Discussions continue and we are committed to finding a resolution as soon as possible.”
One Year!
When is a tooth, rotten to the point that it needs extraction, not clinically urgent to the extent that it is somehow acceptable to wait a year. This is astonishing.You need to be logged in to leave comments.
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