One Year To Clear Backlogs, And Staff Recruitment Difficulties – FDS Survey Highlights Dentistry’s Current Problems
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- Published: Thursday, 26 August 2021 08:33
- Written by Chris Tapper
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Nearly forty percent of dental surgeons believe it will take at least 12 months to clear the backlog from COVID-19.
A survey of 300 dentists from the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England also found that 29% (nearly one third) of respondents said it had been more difficult to recruit dental staff during the pandemic.
The FDS findings appear to correlate with the General Dental Council’s registration figures for August 2021, which showed that over 6% of dental nurses dropped off the dental register between July and August, representing a total of 3826 dental nurses who didn’t renew their registrations at the end of July.
Today, the FDS is publishing a new report, “A resumption of dental services – one year on”, based on the survey, that explores how services are faring now.
The FDS says “The governments of all four UK nations should prioritise tackling long waits for dental surgery alongside other types of elective surgery and recommend a particular focus on the needs of dental patients who are children or vulnerable adults.”
A quarter (25%) of respondents said that most patients on their waiting lists are children, according to the Faculty.
Among the key findings from the FDS report, the Faculty said that more than eight in ten survey respondents are delivering routine procedures and a majority are providing emergency treatment.
Just 2% of those dentists surveyed said they are not delivering any services at all.
Nearly half (47%) of FDS members were seeing between six and ten patients per session, and a further 30% were seeing between three and five patients.
Compared to a previous survey carried out by the Faculty last autumn, there appeared to have been an increase in the number of respondents who could see over ten patients per session - although this remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
“Over half (54%) of respondents said that the requirement to leave fallow time between patients after finishing an aerosol generating procedure was a barrier to seeing more patients.
“Social distancing requirements (49%), limited availability of surgery or theatre space (30%), inadequate ventilation (28%) and staff shortages (25%) were also cited as significant barriers by a number of respondents,” the report said.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of those who responded to the survey said they planned to reduce the amount of NHS work they undertook over the next five years, while one in six (18%) plan to retire during this period.
Ten percent of respondents indicated that they intend to leave the profession before reaching retirement age.
Mr Matthew Garrett, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said “The good news is that, for the most part, dental services are back up and running. Eight in ten of our members told us they were back providing routine procedures, and the majority are providing emergency treatment.”
“That said, the pandemic created a significant backlog of patients needing treatment, which will not be cleared anytime soon. Also worrying is that up to a quarter (25%) of our members have told us most patients on their waiting lists are children.”
“Particular efforts must be made to ensure timely access to dental treatment for children and vulnerable adults, including those with special educational needs. We are concerned for example about the waiting times these groups of patients face for general anaesthetic procedures.
“More widely, the Faculty would like to see governments in all four UK nations address the dentistry backlog as part of the recovery of elective surgery.”
“Dental surgeons are supportive of measures in place to protect patients while we continue to battle Covid-19. However, requirements around fallow time in dental settings must be kept under review, because these are still the main barrier to dentists seeing more patients. Settings must also be supported to improve ventilation, particularly in England. We welcome funding commitments that have already been made in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland,” Mr Garrett added:
The FDS says “Given the delays in accessing dental care that will be experienced over the next few years, prevention should remain a core focus within health policy across all four UK nations. The UK Government’s commitments to restrict junk food advertising, extend community water fluoridation initiatives, expand the provision of supervised tooth brushing schemes in England and update the School Food Standards must be delivered in full.”
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