Almost all people (95%) who try can make NHS dental appointment
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- Published: Thursday, 21 July 2016 07:40
- Written by News Editor
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The annual survey of dental patients showed that 95% of people who tried to make an appointment for NHS dentistry were successful and 85% rated their experience as positive. Of the two fifths of respondents who had not tried to make an appointentt 38% mentioned private dentistry as the reason for not trying to get an NHS appointment; and 22% said they had “not needed to visit the dentist”.
In January to March 2016, 1.1 million adults were asked about their views on NHS dentistry. Participants were asked if they had tried to obtain an appointment with an NHS dentist and, if so, whether it was with a practice they had been to before and if they had been successful. They were also asked what their overall experience was of NHS dentistry. Patients who hadn’t tried to obtain an NHS dentist in the previous two years were asked to select the main reason why they hadn’t tried.
Main results
- 1.1 million adults were contacted, 416,000 replies were received, with a response rate of 38%.
- Of all respondents asked, just under three fifths (59%) tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years.
- Of the group of respondents who had tried to get an appointment in the last two years;
- 85% rated their NHS dental experience as positive (50% very good and 35% fairly good);
- 93% were successful in getting an appointment, a success rate of 95% when excluding the ‘can’t remember’ category.
- Respondents who had not been to the practice before were less successful in getting an NHS dental appointment. Younger adults and ethnic minorities also reported a lower success rate. A lower proportion of younger adults and respondents from ethnic minorities had been to the practice before, compared to other respondents.
- The remaining two fifths (41%) did not try to get an appointment with an NHS dentist in the last two years, 24% had never tried to get an NHS appointment and 17% had tried but over two years ago.
- Of those who had not tried to get an appointment:
- 38% mentioned private dentistry as the reason for not trying to get an NHS appointment; 23% prefer private dentistry and 15% stayed when their dentist moved from NHS to private.
- Just over a fifth (22%) of those adults who did not try stated they had “not needed to visit the dentist” as the reason for not attending.
- 12% of the respondents who didn’t try to get an NHS dental appointment gave their reason as “I didn’t think I could get an NHS dental appointment”.
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