Workforce shortages, funding pressures and treatment capacity have been highlighted as problems that effect access to NHS dentistry. Aside from expanding services, another issue deserves greater attention: the efficiency of patients flowing through the system.
Delays, rejected referrals and variations in local referral criteria can prevent patients from reaching the right service at the right time. It is these inefficiencies that can create additional work for already overstretched teams. Pressure is increased on specialist services and patients can wait longer than necessary for treatment.
Increasing capacity is important, but making better use of existing capacity could be just as critical.
The hidden challenge of dental referrals
When a patient requires specialist dental care, the referral process should provide a straightforward route to appropriate treatment. Variations in local referral requirements, missing clinical information and fragmented systems can complicate that journey.
For dental commissioners and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), these inefficiencies cause a problem beyond administration. For every referral that needs correcting, resubmitting or redirecting, additional demand is placed on services that can contribute to unnecessary delays.
Saving time by ensuring that patients are directed to the most appropriate service first is becoming increasingly important, especially as the NHS works towards delivering more care in community settings.
Could smarter referrals help improve access?
Digital referral optimisation offers an opportunity to address some of these pressures without relying solely on additional clinical capacity.
Technology can help clinicians make more informed referral decisions, improve communication between providers and give commissioners greater visibility of patient pathways. With the use of technology, NHS organisations can identify inefficiencies and make more informed decisions about service provision.
For commissioning teams, access to reliable referral data could also help reveal where demand is greatest, where pathways are under pressure and where resources could be better allocated.
The challenge is therefore not only to increase dental capacity, but also to ensure that capacity is being used effectively.
Discover how to unblock the dental care pathway
NEC Health’s new white paper, How to unblock the dental care pathway: A guide to reducing inefficiencies in the dental referrals process, explores the challenges affecting NHS dental referrals and the opportunities to improve them.
Featuring insights from dental healthcare leaders and examples of digital referral optimisation in practice, the report examines how NHS commissioners and providers can work towards more efficient pathways and better patient outcomes.
Download the white paper to explore the full findings
