Patient Update: NHS Conscious Sedation Services at Queensway

Since 1998, Queensway Dental Clinic has offered an essential NHS conscious sedation referral service for the residents of Teesside, County Durham and Darlington, providing care and necessary dental treatment for a large group of highly anxious children and adults.

As a practice we are very proud of our hard work in developing this service and, over the 15 years, our highly experienced and well qualified team have treated over 100,000 patients under conscious sedation at our clinic in Billingham.  Around 45,000 of these patients were children, who otherwise would have had their treatment provided under a general anaesthetic in hospital.

In 2012, the contract to provide NHS sedation services for Teesside, County Durham and Darlington was put out to tender.  It was our initial intention to keep the existing service running; however, sadly it would have been impossible for us to maintain our high standards of care and quality of service for our patients with the resources available.

As a result, we had no option but to withdraw from the tender process and it is with deep regret that we are informing you that from June 2013 we will no longer be accepting NHS referrals for treatment under conscious sedation.

Between now and the end of June we are only seeing urgent referrals, providing treatment for patients who need emergency treatment.  For those patients requiring routine NHS dentistry with conscious sedation, your own practice will refer you to the new local providers in due course.

Moving forward, we still have a 15-year track record of delivering a safe, high quality and knowledgeable sedation service and will continue to offer treatment under conscious sedation to referral patients on a private basis only.

If you are a patient at another dental practice but would like to access Queensway’s sedation services privately, the cost of this will be £60 for a comprehensive assessment with a sedation-qualified dentist. Treatment with conscious sedation for routine dentistry* will be charged at a fixed cost of £335 for each sedation visit required. Each sedation appointment will last approximately 1 hour and we will endeavour to complete all treatment needed within this time, wherever possible. Any laboratory items required (e.g. dentures, crowns, bridges or gum shields) or cosmetic treatments will incur an additional charge and this will be discussed at the assessment visit. Please speak to your current dentist and they will be able to refer you to our practice.

If you do not currently have a dentist and would like join our practice as a private patient, please call our reception team on 01642 554667 or email reception@queensway.co.uk.

*Routine dentistry may include fillings, extractions, scaling and root canal treatment and the quoted fee is inclusive of the sedation.

Private: Direct Access: Dental Therapists are now able to carry out routine dental check-ups

From the 1st May 2013, patients can book directly with a Dental Hygienist or Dental Therapist instead of having to see a dentist first.

At a meeting on 28th March 2013 the General Dental Council (GDC) voted to remove its barrier to direct access for some dental care professionals after considering the possible impact on patient safety.

In the past every member of the dental team had to work under the prescription of a dentist. This meant that patients had to be seen by a dentist before being treated by any other member of the dental team.

Following a detailed review of evidence, which had been gathered since 2011, and a full discussion, it was agreed this should change.

What does this mean for patients at Queensway?

The face of dental healthcare in the UK is changing; at Queensway we are proud to be able to embrace this new care model with a professional, well qualified, experienced and committed team.

Some of our existing NHS patients will be receiving letters in the post over the coming weeks informing them that their next check-up appointment will be with Dental Therapist Aimee Briggs. Aimee is trained and competent to carry out a routine dental check-up, meaning that they don’t having to see a dentist first. If she thinks that it is required for them to see a dentist because the treatment they need is something that is not in her scope of practice, she will refer them to see a dentist. In addition Aimee will be able to carry out preventative treatment and routine oral healthcare.

If you require any more information please call us on 01642 554667.

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