Dentistry still feeling pandemic impact in Wirral

Dental services in Wirral are still feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures which show activity is yet to recover to pre-crisis levels.

The British Dental Association said the latest figures – which show treatments remain below pre-pandemic levels across England despite a surge in activity – show NHS dentistry is "on its last legs" and in need of urgent change.

In the year to March, a total of 172,748 courses of treatment were delivered to adults and children in the former Wirral CCG area, figures from NHS Digital show.

This was more than double the 76,972 treatments delivered in 2020-21, but still 34% below the pre-pandemic figure of 263,307.

Different figures show in the two years to June, 116,128 adults saw their local NHS dentist in Wirral – 45% of the over-18 population.

That represented another fall from 50% in the 24 months to June 2021, which saw dental activity first hampered by the pandemic, and a drop from 60% in the two years to June 2019.

Some 47% of children (31,772) were seen by NHS dentists between July 2021 and June this year, compared to 32% over the same period the previous year, and 61% in 2018-19.

Across England, dentists carried out 26.4 million treatments in 2021-22, though the BDA said this is just two-thirds of the average volumes delivered annually in the five years prior to the pandemic – 39.4 million.

Eddie Crouch, chairman of the BDA, said: "What we're seeing isn't a recovery, but a service on its last legs.

"The Government will be fooling itself and millions of patients if it attempts to put a gloss on these figures.

"NHS dentistry is lightyears away from where it needs to be. Unless ministers step up and deliver much needed reform and decent funding, this will remain the new normal."

The BDA said that while both Tory leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had pledged urgent reform of NHS dentistry, it had seen no indication that the Treasury will be mandated to provide the cash needed to rebuild and reform of services.

The latest data comes after a BDA and BBC analysis earlier this month found that across England 91% of NHS practices were not accepting new adult patients – 4,933 of 5,416 – rising to 97% in the East Midlands, and 98% in the South West, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

According to the NHS Digital figures, there were 205 NHS dentists working across the former NHS Wirral CCG area in the year to March – meaning each one had the equivalent of 1,582 patients on their roster.

An NHS spokesman said: “The latest data show dental services are recovering post-pandemic, with over 26 million patient treatments delivered last year – up 120% from the year before, along with 1.7 million more children getting seen by an NHS dentist.

“To further support the ongoing restoration of NHS dentistry, we recently announced the first significant changes to dentistry since 2006, helping practices to improve access for the patients that need dental care the most.”

In July, clinical commissioning groups were abolished and replaced with integrated care boards across England.