Manchester: Long wait for a dentist

People suffering toothache in Greater Manchester are still being forced to join long queues for treatment - three years after a government minister pledged to improve NHS dental treatment in the region - according to the Manchester Evening News.

Many are being forced to wait in hospital after failing to find an NHS dentist who can give them an appointment.

In September 2004, health minister Rosie Winterton promised dental care would improve after we showed her the queues of desperate patients outside the dental hospital.

But the lines of desperate patients are still there, and an exclusive survey conducted by the MEN this month has revealed that only a quarter of NHS dentists in Greater Manchester are offering NHS treatment to patients who say they have a painful dental problem.

Despite the freezing weather yesterday morning, patients had chosen to queue at the hospital on Oxford Road rather than face the expensive fees of their dentists who have converted to private practice.

Terrible toothache Alani Mosharaf, 31, a student from Chorlton upon Medlock, was first in the queue, he said: "I've got terrible tooth ache, I don't know what is wrong, I've had problems for the last four months and I've been here several times.

"I've tried to get a dentist near my home since I arrived in the city three years ago but they are all private, they are not interested in NHS patients - it seems like there is no NHS any more where I live."

Ben Cousins, 21, a restaurant manager, from Hulme, was also in agony but he queued for more than an hour because his last visit to his - now private - dentist cost him more than £100.

He said: "I can't afford it in November with Christmas coming up, I'm not looking forward to having a tooth removed and I don't want to pay that much to have it done.

"They say it costs £14.50 here for an appointment and depending on what you have it can go up to £48, which is a lot better value."

Last year we reported how two new full-time dentists had been recruited to work at the hospital enabling the clinic to see up to 80 extra patients a day but it still hasn't reduced the queues.

Patients are supposed to be able to get dental treatment on the NHS without being registered with a dentist. But when an MEN reporter rang 50 dental surgeons complaining about a chipped tooth just 13 said they would offer an NHS appointment within a month.

Our reporter was told by 21 of the dentists that he could have treatment privately.

The remaining 16 dentists could not offer an appointment at all, either privately or on the NHS.

The dentists were registered in the "find a dentist" section on the government's NHS Choices website.

The findings of the MEN's study are to be presented to a committee of MPs later this week by Dr Anthony Halperin, the chairman of the Patients' Association who is also a dentist.

He believes lack of funding for NHS dentistry from Primary Care Trusts is at the root of the problem and said: "It does show there are problems gaining access to NHS dentists.

"That is not necessarily because dentists are choosing to treat private patients before NHS patients, but because they are not getting funding from the PCT to take on new NHS patients.

"Under the old system, dentists could take on as many NHS patients as they liked and then fill out forms for funding. But now the funding must already be in place from the PCT and that is causing problems.

"That is what has come across to the Patients' Association. It is the lack of funding, rather than a lack of space or capability.

"These are interesting findings and I'll mention the survey when I speak to MPs next week at a select committee."

All dentists now work on a self-employed basis, and receive funding from the Manchester PCT for treating NHS patients. As more dentists turn from treating NHS patients to private work, many are now branching out into cosmetic dentistry.

When our reporter rang the same 50 dentists and asked whether they could do teeth whitening - a private cosmetic service costing between £190 and £550 - more than two thirds (34) of them said they did and offered an appointment.

A spokesman for the Manchester Health Watchdog said it was a concern that most NHS dental practices are still running a registration system despite the new guidance from the Department of Health. The watchdog was also aware practices were asking patients to sign up to monthly direct debits to receive treatment.

Martin Rathfelder, member of the Manchester Health Watchdog, said: "It is a difficult situation because dentists are self-employed and there isn't any way of preventing them doing cosmetic work, but I think questions should be asked of Manchester PCT about the level of capacity of NHS dentistry in the city.

"Based on the information collected by the MEN, the PCT should be ensuring that all NHS dentists in the city are meeting their dental unit targets and if they are not, why not?

"Is capacity the issue or is it about the money.

"Most of the dental practices in Manchester seem to be running a practice list system. Is that lawful?"

Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley, said: "It seems since the new system was introduced more dentists are choosing to take on more private work.

"The current system isn't delivering what it promised to in many parts of the country, although the situation in my constituency isn't as bad as in other parts of Greater Manchester and elsewhere.

"It needs to be looked at again because the tax paying public is not getting value for money and there are real flaws in the new arrangements.

"The balance is not there. Dentists are choosing to take on more private work and this is limiting the number of NHS patients they can treat."