Kirklees children facing pain and infections amid growing dental waiting list

It has been established that some children have been waiting over two years for relief and are experiencing pain and repeated infections as a result.

On Tuesday, April 18, Kirklees Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee met and members gave updates on the work being done by their panels. Coun Jackie Ramsay (Labour, Dewsbury South) who chairs the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel gave an update with part of this relating to dental services for children.

She told the meeting: “At our last meeting we looked at dentistry which is coming back from NHS England’s commissioning into the Integrated Care Board commissioning. Without a doubt, there are real issues in dentistry.

“One specific issue that we’ve again written to Chief Executives about and to the Integrated Care Board is with children who are unable to have teeth extractions under general anaesthetic. We have got a waiting list that has been building for over two years with about 1,500 plus children on it and this is not what we would consider to be good quality care.

“Again, we’ve written but we’ve not had a response to that but those children without a doubt are either in pain or having repeated infections but they’re not getting the best quality service that we would want.”

The 2022/23 Kirklees Dentistry Overview Report that went to the panel in March revealed a national 58.4 per cent reduction in the number of cavity-related tooth extractions in hospitals for zero to 19-year-olds since 2020/21. This is despite a 0.4 per cent increase in the estimated population of this age group.

However, this was put down to the impact of the pandemic on non-Covid related hospital episodes – not a sudden reduction in need or demand.

The report continues: “The population of Kirklees is increasing, it is anticipated that there will be a 4 per cent increase between 2020 and 2040 which will increase demand on dental services.

“In particular, the predicted increase in the population of older adults (65+ years) and increase in the population of the 85+ age group between 2020 and 2040 will bring challenges of its own to develop dental services that meet the dental needs of this ageing population…”

Chair of the committee, Coun Elizabeth Smaje (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw) said: “Let’s hope that the change in the dentistry with the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, they can sort out the two-year waiting list for extractions because that must be awful for youngsters to have to wait that length of time and the impact it has on their lives when they’re in pain from needing extractions for teeth cannot be underestimated, can it? And it needs to be addressed.”