CQC Report Confirms Dire State Of Access – But Offers No Solutions
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- Published: Thursday, 07 December 2023 08:52
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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The latest State of Care report published by the Care Quality Commission has underlined the dire state of access to much Health and Social Care in England. It paints a picture of services struggling to recruit workers and retain the ones they’ve got.
A picture of staff rushed off their feet, many at breaking point as the cost of living crisis heats up already simmering stress and mental health issues. Of patients waiting risky lengths of time for ambulances and of cancer assessment targets being missed.
Patients who fall under the umbrella of having a ‘protected characteristic’ often endured additional challenges accessing services.
Hospitals, GP, mental health, dental services and care homes are among the areas of health and social care activity that fell under the CQC’s wide-ranging spotlight, with many issues common to all.
Whilst the Report covered diverse areas like Quality of Treatment, Inequalities, Systems, and Workforce matters, dentistry was only highlighted under the ‘Access’ heading.
The report zoned in on some key statistics:
- The amount of dental treatment being delivered (measured in units of dental activity) was 30% lower than before the pandemic.
- This year, recovery has continued to be slow with data from NHS England for 2022/23 showing that the average quarterly units of NHS dental activity were 14% lower than the average activity in the 2 years before the pandemic.
- This had improved by the end of 2022/23, with units of dental activity reaching pre-pandemic levels in January to March 2023.
The CQC Report highlighted what is common knowledge, that ‘getting access to NHS dentists is still a key concern for people’ and that these issues affect almost every part of the country.
‘A March 2023 YouGov survey of 2,104 people found that 1 in 5 respondents (22%) were not ’registered’ with a dentist’ the CQC reported adding that ‘of those, 37% said this was because they couldn’t find an NHS dentist’ whilst ‘data from NHS England showed that up to the end of June 2023, only 38% of adults in the South East had seen an NHS dentist in the previous 2 years’.
More statistics were detailed, surveys quoted, experiences relayed. Ultimately though, the CQC Report, like so many others, is long on description but short on prescription.
Having sounded alarm bells about the dire state of dental care available to many care home residents or the scandal of patients with toothache presenting at their GPs or hospital A&E departments, the CQC fell back on feeble and well-worn Departmental claims of £3BN being ‘invested’ into dental care, the word ‘invested’ suggesting that this is additional revenue directed to the dental service to help it address its shortcomings.
Its dental section concluded ‘in July 2023, the Health and Social Care Committee’s report on NHS dentistry was clear that current efforts were not enough and that NHS dentistry needs “urgent and fundamental reform” to ensure people get the care they need’.
In so much as the CQC is lending its weight to what everyone in the profession already knows, it voice is a welcome addition to the chorus. With its coal face inspections the CQC is well qualified to grasp the issues confronted by practices and patients seeking to access them. What practices and aspirant patients want to know is how does dentistry climb out of this hole?
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