NHS Suffolk Eager to Promote Dental Services
Representatives from NHS Suffolk are eager to encourage local people to register with an NHS dentist, after thousands of new dental places were made available in the county.
NHS Suffolk was set a target of providing dental services to 371,392 people over the course of the last two years, but fell short of the target by 25,000 people. NHS bosses believe that the failure is due to people not realising that surgeries are taking on new patients. As a result of a lack of awareness of available places, NHS Suffolk is now stepping up the drive to get people to register with a local dentist.
Tracey Sadler, senior primary care manager at NHS Suffolk, said that there had been a significant investment in dental services in Suffolk in recent years and the aim was now to inform members of the public about the services available to them. Seven new practices have opened in the county and almost 350,000 people visited an NHS dentist between 2009 and 2011.
There are currently 45 practices offering a comprehensive range of NHS treatments, as well as specialist services for children, patients with special needs and vulnerable patients. To further improve access to dental services, NHS Suffolk is set to open talks with surgeries in the county to offer incentives for providing NHS services.
Although there have been improvements and NHS Suffolk is working hard to increase the number of NHS dentists in the area, it seems inevitable that next year’s target of 376,899 patients, which has been set by the Strategic Health Authority, will not be met.
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