You Said We Did – Dentistry

Late last year Healthwatch Lancashire met with the People First Self Advocacy groups based in Lancashire to speak with people who are autistic or have a learning disability and find out what barriers they may face when accessing health and social care services. One of the things we heard was about how access to a NHS dentist was becoming increasingly difficult; with one member of the group explaining how they had needed to find a new dentist as their current one was only going to offer private services in the future.

This had caused a lot of stress and anxiety as it’s important for dentists to be familiar with their patients when they have additional or complex needs. The Healthwatch team were able to provide advice and support, as well as signposting to several of NHS contact numbers around dentistry.

As a result of this the dentist in question agreed to keep the person on as an NHS patient which they were very happy about.

For advice about NHS Dentists or for an emergency dentist call: 0300 1234 010

For dentistry complaints you can call the ICB (Integrated Care Board) on:  0800 032 2424

Lancashire Dental Helpline: 0300 1234 010