Healthwatch Rutland present to the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Women’s Institute
'There is a chronic shortage of NHS dentists and people are suffering health issues as a result. The NFWI calls upon the Government to increase investment in the training and retention of dentists and to review the current inadequate NHS contracts in order to ensure everyone can gain access to an NHS dentist wherever they live.'
Sue Mottram, Resolution Advisor for Leicestershire and Rutland Federation of WIs.
Healthwatch Rutland partnered with Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire to present information on the patient’s perspective of NHS dentistry services within our local areas. We highlighted patient feedback from our recent dental poll and introduced a briefing paper which Healthwatch Rutland published this month. Sarah May, a retired general dental practitioner and member of the Leicestershire and Rutland Local Dental Committee also gave a history of dentistry and how NHS dentistry has evolved into the services we experience today locally. The audience were delegates from WIs across the 2 counties who would then cascade information to their fellow members of their individual WI groups.
We delivered information around the National Dental Recovery Plan and the potential impact on Rutland residents. The audience commented about confusion on certain points within the plan. They highlighted the importance of understanding what the points mean to be able to understand the potential impacts.
During our presentations some of the incentives contained in the NHS Dental Recovery Plan were discussed in more detail:
£15-£50 Bonus
This is a new patient bonus given to dentists for treating people who have not seen a dentist for 2 years or more.
Minimum ‘UDA’ uplift
Units of Dental Activity (UDA) are the way in which clinical activity is measured within NHS dentistry. The number of UDAs awarded to a dental practice for a treatment depends on the complexity of treatment. The Recovery Plan increases the value of UDAs to ensure that NHS dentists are better recompensed for the work they do.
‘Golden Hello’
This is a financial incentive of £20,000 phased over 3 years given to NHS dentists to work in areas which are currently underserved. It is not yet known which areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will benefit from this.
The next steps for the delegates of the LLR WI are to attend the National Federation of Women’s Institute Annual Meeting in June at the Royal Albert Hall. As well as listening to a variety of other speakers, this is where they will vote on the resolution on behalf of their own WI.
"Healthwatch provided a super presentation in support of our resolution "Dental Matters". Hollie and Gemma were so helpful, liaising with our other speaker to ensure a balanced programme. Our members went away with a wealth of useful information to cascade to their groups."
Healthwatch Rutland will continue to represent the patients’ voice and highlight difficulties which Rutland residents are facing when trying to access NHS dentistry.
