Accessing Dental Services in Hertfordshire 2016
What is a Health Needs Assessment
The National Institue for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines Health Needs Assessments (HNA) as:
"A systematic process used by NHS organisations and local authorities to assess the health problems facing a population. This includes determining whether certain groups appear more prone to illness than others and pinpointing any inequalities in terms of service provision. It results in an agreed list of priorities to improve healthcare in a particular area."
What We Did
Our role was to research the lived experiences of people using local NHS dental services for dental treatment, or Oral Health Promotion Programmes to prevent dental decay.
Our public engagement work ran over a period of 3 months from July –September 2015, and consisted of an online survey supported by six focus groups. These focus groups helped us hear the views of people with protected characteristics whose views may seldom be heard. Focus Groups were held with:
- Carers of people with a learning disability
- Herts Aid
- Healthwatch Hertfordshire Mental Health and Learning Disability Group & Healthwatch Hertfordshire Sensory and Physical Disability Service Watch Group.
- Herts People First
- Viewpoint service users
- Watford and Three Rivers Fives Ways Friends Club
What We Found
- Two of the top reasons people gave for not visiting a dentist in last two years was: (1) Cost – feeling the cost was too expensive, or confusing (2) Inability to find a NHS dental practice taking patients.
- Patients who needed an NHS dental practice that was accessible for those with sensory and physical needs struggled to find one easily. It was also highlighted that no dental practice had signposted individuals on these cases instead leaving the individual to continue the search themselves.
- Participants living with HIV raised concerns about discrimination, and the need for more training and awareness around HIV.
- The Special Care Dental Service provided by Herts Community Trust, was seen as an extremely good service by the participants who used it, or care for those who do.
- Participants were overall dissatisfied with the information currently available on dental practices, and dental costs. Awareness of websites such as NHS choices remained low.
- Most participants were not aware of NHS dental prices and treatment bands, and had not seen this information clearly displayed in their practice.
- Participants raised concerns that treatment plans, and the FP17DC had not been being shared with them ahead of treatment, so patients were unsure if they were receiving NHS or private treatment, and in turn unsure if they would be charged NHS or private fees.
What Happens Next
The report and subsequent recommendations (which can be found below) has been shared with EoE Public Health, the Local Dental Network, NHS England locally and nationally, Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
A proposal has been put forward and accepted by Healthwatch Hertfordshire’s Quality Improvement Sub Committee (QISC) for Dental Practices to be included as a project within the Enter & View Programme going forward. This proposal sets out to pilot ‘enter and view’ visits within NHS dental practices providing NHS mandatory care over a 2 year period, with the aim to assess if recommendations have been taken forward.
Read the full report here
If you require this report in another format, please get in touch.
