Agenda item

The Panel considered the report of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight which provided an update and overview of dentistry and dental services across Southampton.

James Roach, Director of Primary Care, NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight; Joe Hannigan, member of the Trade Union Council, and the Care and Health Integration Panel; Dr Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health at Southampton City Council and Councillor Finn, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

It was noted that the report provided context on how the national dental contract had been organised and delivered in the Southampton area since management of the contract transferred from NHS England to NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight. It had been widely acknowledged that the national dental contract needed reform.

In discussion the Panel noted the following:

·  A financial report had been submitted for a new contract that would increase the Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate and aimed to provide more robust data collection requirements.

·  Flexible contracting by NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight proved beneficial when a dental practice ceased operating and replacement services were established within four weeks.

·  The improvements made in the collection of local dental data enabled identification of services gaps and evidenced that instead of decline there had been a slight increase in the number of appointments.  It had been found that dental need was closely linked to levels of deprivation.

·  Getting reliable data on unmet need with regards to dental health in Southampton was challenging.

·  The mobile dental unit in Hampshire, provided by the charity Dental Aid, had facilitated 10,000 additional consultations and focussed on people who had long standing dental needs in deprived communities. The mobile dental unit played a crucial role in reducing dental health care inequalities.

·  Efforts to improve collaboration with dental service providers faced challenges due to their private independent business nature and discussions with providers had focussed on how collaboration could support their business development goals.

·  The provision of a ‘golden hello’ had helped to address some workforce issues.  Other workforce initiatives included the promotion of careers in dentistry.

·  A workforce summit had been planned for the Isle of Wight to support closer working, career opportunities and information sharing.The Panel welcomed and supported the proposal for a workforce summit in Southampton on dentistry, akin to the event planned for the Isle of Wight.

·  Dental practices had expressed a desire to engage in more prevention work, however their capacity to engage in prevention work was limited by the demand for delivery appointments and dental treatment.

·  Oral health promotion activity had engaged 31 early years providers and around 1,300 children in supervised toothbrushing activities

·  Oral education in schools had focussed on teaching good brushing techniques and feedback from teachers indicated the need for reinforcement at home which was more challenging to achieve.

·  It was acknowledged that it was important to make the most of the full dental team, which included dental nurses and hygienists.

RESOLVED 

1)  That the Panel would be provided with data for Southampton which identified the percentage of patients attending NHS dental practices in the previous two years.

2)  That an estimate would be provided to the Panel of the level of unmet dental care need in Southampton.

3)  That, whilst the Panel welcomed the work to improve oral health targeted at under 5’s in Southampton, to improve oral health outcomes for children in the city, the NHS and Council would commit to continue to prioritise support to children in the most disadvantaged areas of the city.