“Long waiting lists unacceptable”
Long waiting lists for children and young people needing orthodontic treatment are unacceptable and may reflect underfunding of services, said Guy Deeming, chairman at the British Orthodontic Society’s Orthodontic Specialists Group, speaking on the BBC this week.
In East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, there are long waits for children to get the treatment they need and some are having to travel out of the area.
The BBC aired the concerns of parents on the regional news programme Look North and Radio Humberside and invited the views of the BOS. Guy said the BOS was concerned about the long waiting lists and was putting pressure on NHS England to resolve the problem with more effective funding as well as addressing manpower problems in certain regions. “We are striving to make the point that not enough orthodontic activity is being purchased to meet the needs locally.”
He said there were inequities throughout the UK with young people able to access treatment immediately in some parts of the country while in others, such as Hull and East Riding, there were long waits. Roughly one in three young people under 18 qualify for NHS funded orthodontic treatment in the UK.
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