Care home residents facing worst of NHS dentistry access crisis

The BDA has stressed that the government 'must step up', following statistics that care home residents are baring the brunt of the NHS dentistry access crisis.

Following a CQC review which highlights the lack of access to NHS dentistry for care home residents, the BDA has stressed that the government ‘must step up’.

Care home residents are baring the brunt of the NHS dentistry access crisis.

This comes after a fourfold increase in care home residents unable to access routine NHS dental care.

As a result, the British Dental Association (BDA) has urged the government to ‘step up’.

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This follows research from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which highlights a collapse in access to NHS dentistry among care home residents.

It revealed that the percentage of care home residents not accessing routine NHS dental care has increased from 6% in 2019 to 25%. In addition, care homes stating their residents were always or mostly always able to access routine care has fallen from 67% to 35%.

The BDA has urged ministers to act on these findings, and has ‘long expressed concern over the postcode lottery of provision and the horrific cases that have emerged from the sector’. Some care home residents have been unable to eat, sleep, or communicate their pain.

Dental leaders have also stressed that the access gap for care home residents ‘will far exceed the wider population’. This is due to the ‘complex medical histories’ of the residents.

Care home residents missing vital care

Despite this, the CQC has today revealed that oral health in care homes has improved in a follow-up review of the the state of oral care in care homes.

The review found that 91% of care homes are now aware of the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) oral health guideline. This has seen an increase from 61%.

In addition, the proportion of care plans fully covering oral health needs has more than doubled to 60%. This is compared with just 27% in 2019.

It also found that 60% of care homes said their staff always or mostly always received training in oral health. This has doubled from 30% in 2019.

However, the CQC recognised that the review also highlighted concerns.

These concerns included the fact that 40% of care home staff may not be receiving oral health training, and that residents are missing out on vital care from dental practitioners.

As well as this, the review highlights the lack of dentists who are able or willing to visit care homes, the CQC stated.

Mary Cridge is director of adult social care at CQC. She said: ‘While I am pleased to see that many of our recommendations from 2019 have been taken on board, and providers are more aware of how important oral health is to keeping people healthy, we recognise that there is still room for improvement.

‘In particular, it is imperative that more is done to ensure people have access to vital care from dentists and that oral and dental health is included in all care plans.

‘We have made further recommendations for both adult social care providers and staff, as well as dental providers, so every resident of every care home can have their oral health needs met’

Moral duty

The BDA has applauded the ‘paradigm shift’ on the improvements to oral health and the awareness among care homes.

However, it believes that the report underlines the difficulties in delivering care due to the ‘flawed’ 2006 NHS dental contract.

‘The responsibility for providing anything resembling normal levels of access rests firmly with government’, the BDA said.

It also stated that any solution requires national leadership on commissioning and funding services. This must cover mainstream, urgent and domiciliary care.

Giten Dabhi, chair of the BDA’s England Community Dental Services Committee said: ‘The pandemic caused huge disruption to dental services, and sadly, the worst impact is being felt by the most vulnerable in our society.

‘For years, we’ve needed a revolution in oral health in our care homes. Now, real progress risks being undone as access to care falls off a cliff.

‘The government must step up. Ministers have a moral duty to residents that can be left unable to eat, drink and communicate.’


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