Making dental care accessible
NHS England has recognised the need to update the ‘NHS find a dentist’ more frequently, to indicate whether the practice is accepting new patients. Where people could not access a local dentist, we signposted in excess of 50 people to the local Dental Advice Line for alternative support.
Over 200 of people Contact us to share their difficulties in finding a dentist for routine treatment and care.
Regular updates on the ‘NHS find a dentist website helps people to:
• Understand if a local dentist is accepting adults and children
• Consider when the last update to the web page was made which spotlights the latest information about respective NHS dental practices
• Distinguish if NHS dental practices are accepting adults entitled to free dental care
What difference did this make
Better clarity and understanding for people to find a dentist in Stoke-onTrent without residents having to call a large number of dentists to ask repetitive questions about registration availability.
“A simple but effective update to the NHS find a dentist website makes it a lot clearer for me to support local people to go online and look if a dentist is taking on new patients.”
