Dental recruitment crisis pushes waiting times to over a year

Monday 04 September 2017

A struggle to recruit dentists to the island has pushed appointment waiting times to their highest level in five years with some islanders forced to wait over a year for their first appointment, an Express Freedom of Information request has revealed.

As of July 31, there were more than 1,000 adults and children awaiting a dental check-up, and 405 requiring orthodontic help – including the fitting of braces – for which there is only one consultant.

While the list lengths remain constant, the wait "regrettably" continues to grow after the only orthodontic consultant cut back their hours last year, a Health and Social Services Department spokesperson told Express.

Since then, they have “constantly” but unsuccessfully attempted to recruit locum staff from the UK, while no applicants responded to an advertisement for an additional consultant. They have since had to advertise a second time, and the only applicant will be interviewed this month.

Recruitment challenges across the department have seen waiting times soar since 2012.

Children are now spending more than 60 weeks – a year and a quarter – on a waiting list for a routine dental check-up at the hospital. The waiting period has quadrupled since 2012 when it stood at 16 weeks. Adult appointments now incur waits of around six months up from 15 weeks in 2012.

Pictured: Work could be outsourced to private dentists and free services cut in a bid to clampdown on spiralling waiting times at the Jersey General Hospital.

Orthodontic appointments were hardest hit, however. Islanders aged 17 and under have seen the delay between requesting an appointment and meeting their dentist rocket from four months to one year since 2012, while their parents are having to wait an additional three months.

But for some the delays can extend even further following an initial review. Express revealed in July that patients are advised of another three-year wait before orthodontic treatment can begin. Those circumstances have led to some parents forking out thousands for private dental care for their children in a bid to cut the wait.

HSSD say that they’re now working on a number of initiatives to alleviate the “far from ideal” situation, including an investment proposal to recruit more staff in 2018 or contracting the work to private dentists to meet demand.

Criteria for free care could also be amended subject to discussions with the Council of Ministers, as provisions such as the Community Dental Service, which offers free dental care to under 11s, have fuelled appointment requests.