The urgent dental care service will provide almost 10,800 appointments in the 2025/26 financial year. The appointments are available every day of the year for local patients who contact NHS111 with an urgent dental problem.
Three dental practices in Hemel Hempstead, Watford, and Waltham Abbey are providing urgent appointments through NHS111 during their practice hours in addition to their regular appointments for registered patients. The Hertfordshire out-of-hours dental service which has bases in Stevenage and Rickmansworth is also providing additional weekday evening, weekend and bank holiday appointments. The Waltham Abbey dental practice is also providing Saturday appointments.
Once NHS111 identifies that a patient needs urgent dental treatment they will book them into the nearest available appointment at one of the participating practices or the Hertfordshire dental out-of-hours service. This appointment is usually on the same day, but it may be the next day in some cases.
As part of their urgent treatment, dentists can also book patients into a follow-up appointment if they identify another dental issue that needs further attention. This allows dentists to stabilise a patient’s oral health and prevent further problems.
Since it started in December 2023 the urgent dental care service has provided over 13,000 urgent and follow-up appointments for patients across Hertfordshire and west Essex.
Avni Shah, Director of Primary Care Transformation at Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB says, “Improving access to dental care by providing additional urgent appointments is one of the key national priorities that the NHS has been tasked with delivering.
“No patient should have to live with severe tooth pain and it’s important that we continue to support patients who need urgent help and make sure they get the treatment they need to get their oral health back on track. Our evaluation of this service shows that it is already benefiting thousands of patients by increasing access to urgent dental treatment.
“We know that patients who experience disadvantage are less likely to have a regular dentist to help them keep on top of their oral health which puts them at a higher risk of developing serious problems. This new service is helping to tackle these health inequalities, which is a priority area for the local NHS.
“As an added benefit, helping people get the right care for their urgent dental needs can take pressure off other services such as urgent treatment centres or hospital emergency departments or GP practices.”
Feedback from NHS111, patients and dental practices who are providing the enhanced service has been very positive. Dentists have particularly welcomed the opportunity to provide follow up appointments to patients to help improve their oral health.
Extending the service to the end of March will help the ICB meet its appointment targets for this year as well as delivering on a priority action in the ICB’s primary care transformation plan.
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