Lack of dental equipment needed to treat wheelchair users
Wheelchair users in Northamptonshire are unable to get essential dental treatment as several clinics are not capable of providing necessary equipment.
These are the findings of Ability Northants, a charity for disabled people, who have received a number of complaints from wheelchair users who are unable to get the dental treatment they need.
Sandra Bell, Director of Ability Northants, said: Dentists just don’t seem to be prepared to treat them. So many dentists are in Victorian buildings which are not easy to adapt and which they will not move out of.”
Dental chairs seem to be the main cause of concern, with wheelchair users unable to use them. A severe lack of special lifting chairs is also a major problem.
Ability Northants carried out an audit on dental surgeries throughout the county five years ago, but Mrs Bell believes the charities recommendations for change have gone ignored. “I would like to know how much of the work that we recommended has actually taken place”
NHS Northamptonshire has responded to such claims by saying the suggestions had been executed, but that some clinics were unable to be suitably adapted.
Diane Fenton, head of dentistry and practitioner service for NHS Northamptonshire, believes dental surgeries in the county are still up to scratch: “There is no need for anyone to travel outside the county to get the care they need.”
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