Summary of report content
Healthwatch Halton contacted all local dental practices, by email and phone, to get an accurate picture regarding appointment availability and waiting times. They found that none of the local dental practices they heard from were taking on new NHS patients. Following this they ran a short online questionnaire, to gather feedback from residents who had either accessed or attempted to access dental care since March 2020.
The report highlights the issues local people have been facing while trying to access NHS dental treatment, including:
- access to routine and urgent dental care
- difficulty affording private dental care
- impact on people due to lack of timely dental care
- travelling to dental practices
- clarity of costs
- lack of access for children
Healthwatch Halton have made six clear recommendations for dental providers to improve the current issues with NHS dentistry.
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Network Impact
Relationships that exist locally, regionally, nationally have benefited from the work undertaken in the report
Implied Impact
Where it is implied that change may occur in the future as a result of Healthwatch work. This can be implied in a provider response, press release or other source. Implied impact can become tangible impact once change has occurred.
Tangible Impact
There is evidence of change that can be directly attributed to Healthwatch work undertaken in the report.