Sadie Parker, director of primary care at NHS Norfolk and Waveney, explained, “Since we took on commissioning responsibility for dental services last April, we have been working hard to understand the landscape, and to understand where we can make a difference in how we commission services locally so we can begin to make things better.”
The ICB has been engaging with dental professionals and their respective bodies to create a list of priorities to tackle. It plans to use the issues identified to focus its activities over the next two years.
The board is asking its stakeholders and members of the public to provide feedback on the areas it has identified through completing a short survey.
“We have been hearing loud and clear from our residents and communities how concerned they are about the lack of NHS dental services in Norfolk and Waveney,” Sadie said. “We know how challenging the situation is, and we are committed to doing all we can to improve patient access to dental services.”
In September 2023, the board launched its ‘Short-Term Dental Plan’ which outlined quick decisions and investments to begin improving access to urgent dental care and supporting NHS providers.
Sadie added, “It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to happen overnight. But we have identified four main priority areas that we can focus on over the next two years as a start.”
The areas under consideration are:
- Urgent care
- Developing capacity in our dental teams;
- Improving access
- Promoting good oral health (especially for children and young people)
NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB is also developing its longer-term plans for commissioning of NHS dental services, and feedback received from this engagement on dentistry will be used to directly inform this long-term approach.
For more information visit https://improvinglivesnw.org.uk/dental-engagement/