Accessing dentistry services during COVID-19
We take 4-5 phone calls a day from people looking for dental care. We want to accept new patients but we are a dentist down and the team are putting in extra hours and recruiting for a new dentist. The current situation and COVID guidance has created an extra 50% workload.
Healthwatch Sutton has seen an increase in the amount of enquiries from residents about how they can access local dentistry services.
In response to this, we contacted all 36 dental practices in and around the London Borough of Sutton to find out what practices were taking on new patients, and average waiting times for accessing routine and emergency appointments.
We managed to speak to 30 dental practices between 16th June and 19th July 2021.
Our findings have helped us to point residents in the direction of dental practices who are accepting new NHS patients.
We are also looking into carrying out a more in-depth project looking at people's experiences of accessing dental services during COVID-19.
Thank you to all of the practices who took the time to speak with us.
