Stress And Financial Worries In Dentistry Abound, With Non-Answers From Government
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- Published: Monday, 20 December 2021 07:35
- Written by Chris Tapper
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A survey exploring the mental health of dentists in Wales has found high stress levels among practitioners, as well as difficult working conditions.
The British Dental Association approached dentists working in Wales to find out how stressful they had found the past six months, working through the pandemic.
BDA News said “Worryingly, almost half of you had found the last six months had been extremely stressful.”
“Many described facing burnout.”
Alarmingly, a massive “83.1% of respondents reported they had gone to work despite not feeling mentally well enough over the past six months.”
“Almost half had done so for more than ten days,” BDA News reported.
One Welsh practitioner who wished to remain anonymous, told GDPUK yesterday that there was anxiety surrounding the “Uncertainty of what the Welsh Chief Dental Officer is going to come up with next,” following the abandonment of UDAs in Wales.
She said she was “Constantly apologising to patients for the wait for appointments.”
She told GDPUK that having to see patients sent to her practice by the Local Health Board because they don’t have a dentist, increases waiting times – “Then patients get cross.”
The associate said “In my opinion, NHS dentistry should still be available to all. The NHS shouldn’t be for just ‘patch-up’ jobs.”
She continued “Yes, a wait is inevitable, but people are profiteering by playing on fears and pain.”
“Some people can’t get an examination until next October. That means some children won’t have seen a dentist for three years.”
The dentist, who works in a mixed practice, added “But if the parents pay for a private exam for themselves, we see the kids on the NHS.”
“Six of my colleagues have gone fully private since COVID.”
The dentist said that since the abandonment of UDAs by the Welsh Government, she had been paid by her practice owners on a sessional basis.
“We’re under threat that money will be taken off us for not applying fluoride.”
She also said that in the South Wales practice, she had been booking her own appointments and was also seeing between six to ten emergencies a day, instead of planned treatment.
The BDA survey found that over a quarter of respondents had increased their alcohol consumption in the last six months.
The survey had also found that the use of prescribed or over-the-counter drugs and natural substance ‘mood enhancers’ had doubled since the last survey the BDA had carried out.
BDA News said “63.4% of respondents say they are sleeping badly or very badly.”
“70.6% tell us they are losing at least an hour of sleep per night over the last six months.”
Dentists reported that they had found it more difficult to take breaks away from practice.
In the last survey the BDA carried out, only 13.7% of respondents were able to take breaks often, while only 8% have been able to in the past six months.
“Lunch breaks have also decreased in the last six months, with only 50% often being able to take a half an hour lunch break.”
“Abuse from patients is a problem, with 82.1% of responses stating they had experienced rude or abusive behaviour from patients in the last six months. Much of this abuse was aimed at staff or nurses,” the BDA News website said.
Dentists in Wales harboured concerns about their patient backlogs, with 75% reporting that they felt ‘very concerned.’
Respondents described working in advanced PPE as ‘uncomfortable,’ and ‘unbearable’ as well as ‘horrible,’ ‘tiring’ and ‘exhausting,’ BDA News said.
Meanwhile in Parliament, questions asked regarding improvements in NHS dental access and workforce planning, appeared to be met with regurgitated figures and non-committal waffle.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social care “What steps he is taking to improve the accessibility and affordability of dental treatment in England; and if he will make a statement?”
Replying on Sajid Javid’s behalf Health Minister Maria Caulfield said “The Department continues to work closely with the National Health Service to maximise the number of patients that can be seen safely, with NHS dentists now offering 65% of pre-pandemic levels of care.”
“The NHS is targeting its available capacity at urgent care, vulnerable groups and children, followed by overdue routine care.”
“There are a range of exemptions to patient charges and just under half of patients were treated free of charge in 2020/21,” Ms Caulfield concluded, not really answering the question.
Mr Davey also asked what recent workforce planning the Secretary of State has undertaken for NHS dentistry and if he would make a statement?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health’s replied “NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need.
“Health Education England’s Advancing Dental Care Education and Training Review programme considers how dental and oral health needs can be met through changes to the workforce.”
Ms Caulfield continued “This includes opportunities for flexible training pathways to improve career progression and retention and how to attract dentistry teams to provide NHS services in areas which are less well served.”
“NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing proposals for dental system reform, working with the Department and key stakeholders.”
“This programme seeks to make NHS dentistry more attractive to the profession, in addition to exploring how the whole dental team can be best utilised to deliver National Health Service care.”
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