Dentistry still feeling pandemic impact in Wigan

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 179,348 courses of treatment were delivered to adults and children in the former Wigan CCG area, figures from NHS Digital show.

This was more than double the 71,038 treatments delivered in 2020-21, but still 34 per cent below the pre-pandemic figure of 270,730.

Different figures show in the two years to June, 112,766 adults saw their local NHS dentist in Wigan – 43 per cent of the over-18 population.

That represented another fall from 48 per cent in the 24 months to June 2021, which saw dental activity first hampered by the pandemic, and a drop from 60 per cent in the two years to June 2019.

Some 51 per cent of children (35,372) were seen by NHS dentists between July 2021 and June this year, compared to 35 per cent over the same period the previous year, and 65 per cent in 2018-19.

Across England, dentists carried out 26.4m 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 – 39.4m.

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 light-years 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 new Prime Minister Liz Truss 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 per cent of NHS practices were not accepting new adult patients – 4,933 of 5,416.

According to the NHS Digital figures, there were 211 NHS dentists working across the former NHS Wigan Borough CCG area in the year to March – meaning each one had the equivalent of 1,567 patients on their roster.

An NHS spokesman said: “The latest data show dental services are recovering post-pandemic, with over 26m patient treatments delivered last year – up 120 per cent from the year before, along with 1.7m 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.