Most NHS dental patients rate their care as positive
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- Published: Monday, 23 February 2015 08:36
- Written by News Editor
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The dental results of the latest GP Patient Survey for July/Sept 2014 have been announced. They show that 58% said that they had visited an NHS dentist in the last two years. 11% didn’t try to see an NHS dentist because they “didn’t need to go” or “do not like going” and 8% didn’t try because they “prefer private dentistry”. Of those who received NHS dental care in the last 2 years, 84% of respondents rated their NHS dental experience as positive, an increase of 0.5% compared with the previous year.
Key findings of the survey
Overall, just under three fifths (58%) of respondents from all English Regions stated that they had visited an NHS dentist in the last two years. Of the remaining, 11% didn’t try to see an NHS dentist because they “didn’t need to go” or “do not like going” and 8% didn’t try because they “prefer private dentistry”
The access to NHS dental care from the same period in 2012 to 2014 has been broadly stable with the number of respondents stating that they “Did have an NHS dental appointment in the last two years” increasing slightly to 58% in 2014 from 57% in 2012.
The proportion of respondents who “Prefer private dentistry” has been on the increase and NHS England says this ‘could be explained by the benefits of improving economic fortunes which have resulted in households having more disposable income.
Respondents who “Didn’t think could get an NHS dental appointment” have decreased to 5.0% of the respondents in the last two years from 5.4% reported in 2012.
Regional variations
London has the highest proportion of those who have not tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last 2 years who stated that they “didn’t need to go” or “don’t like going” (15% of all respondents).
South of England has the largest proportion of patients who sought private dental care at 20% with 9% of these respondents stating that they “stayed with their dentists when they moved from NHS to private” and 11% stating that they “prefer private dentistry”.
Demand for NHS dental services is highest in the North of England with 63% of all respondents stating that they had managed to get an appointment to receive NHS dental care followed by Midlands and East of England a 60%.
Demand for NHS dental care remains lowest in London with only 50% of the respondents stating that they had managed to get an NHS dental appointment in the last 2 years.
NHS England says that the low demand levels for NHS dental care in London could possibly be explained by the fact that most residents of London work in the South East of England and are likely to seek dental care in this region given the convenience of doing so.
Overall Experience of NHS dental services
Of the respondents that tried to get an NHS dental care in the last 2 years, 84% of respondents rated their NHS dental experience as positive, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to July to September 2013.
48% stated they had a very good experience, 0.7% point higher than the responses from the same period last year. Of the remaining responses 36% stated a fairly good experience, 9% of respondents stated it was neither good nor poor, and fairly poor and very poor had a 4% and 3% share of the total respectively.
Satisfaction rates with the overall patient experience of NHS dental care remain high in the North of England and Midlands and East of England with 86% and 85% respectively of respondents rating their patient experience as positive while London had the lowest with 81%, a 0.2% improvement from the previous year. All regions recorded increases in respondents who rated their patient experience as positive as compared to the previous year.
Patient experience is influenced by whether patients were successful in getting an appointment. Nationally, those who were successful in getting an appointment rated their patient experience as positive (88%), compared to only 20%of those who were unsuccessful. This in part explains the regional differences seen.
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