Jumping the Queue for NHS Dental Care
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- Published: Monday, 11 November 2024 11:28
- Written by Peter Ingle
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According to the Telegraph and Mail there is one sure fire way to get NHS dental treatment. The only catch is that first, you need to get caught.
The papers have picked up on a recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons report that covers prisoner’s access to dental care.
Law abiding citizens trying to get an appointment or contemplating some DIY dentistry, may be surprised to read that the wait for a routine appointment at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire was less than four weeks, and patients experiencing pain were able to see a dentist within one working day.
Other prisons housing some of the country’s most notorious criminals, including Belmarsh, Pentonville and Frankland, also offer routine and urgent dental appointments within weeks - if not the same day.
In contrast according to the Mail, 97 per cent of people outside His Majesty’s pleasure who were without a dentist and tried to get an NHS appointment in September, were unable to do so. They can only dream of the access available at Buckley Hall prison in Rochdale, where the Telegraph reports, ‘there were virtually no waits to access assessment and support.’
GDPUK readers will not be surprised to see that prison dentists noted that that there are attractive incentives for them to do prison work, which is outsourced to private firms. They include higher pay, better hours and fewer targets, than regular UDA based NHS work.
One inmate at a category B prison told the paper: ‘After years of searching for an NHS dentist, I have finally found a very good one in prison.’
While NHS charges apply to the majority of adults, including those who have retired, prisoners are exempt. Prisoners across the 122 jails in England and Wales can expect their freely available appointments to be free of charge.
At Belmarsh, ‘waiting times were good, with most people getting an initial assessment within seven days and ongoing treatments within a similar timeframe’. Urgent appointments were quicker if needed and prisoners received treatments including ‘dentures, root canal work, scaling, fillings, and promoting oral health’ with six sessions a week. Belmarsh alumni include Charles Bronson, once labelled Britain’s most dangerous man, Abu Hamza, the fundamentalist Islamic preacher, as well as Michael Adebolajo, who murdered soldier Lee Rigby, and MP David Amess’s killer, Ali Harbi Ali.Read More
A Government spokesman said: ‘This government is committed to rebuilding NHS dentistry, but it will take time’ and went on to refer to the much promised 700,000 extra appointments.
An NHS spokesman added: ‘As commissioners for prison healthcare, NHS England is legally tasked with ensuring dental care is provided to patients in prison.’
It is not known whether any of the early release prisoners who have been since recalled, reoffended to get their dental treatment done.
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