Today's analysis covers Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Admitted Patient Care data from April 2014 to March 2015 inclusive and examines the numbers of admissions and A&E attendances in England over a five year period.
The analysis also includes figures on admissions by age and gender, primary diagnosis and main operative procedure. Regional analysis is to NHS Area Team level and statistics are also included on deprivation.
Today's analysis can be viewed at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/hesapr14mar15
Faculty of dental surgery alarmed by nine-fold variation in hospital admissions for dentistry
In response to today's data on dental hospital admissions by the HSCIC, Professor Nigel Hunt, Dean, Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons said:
“Today’s data is a stark reminder of the inequalities in children’s oral health that persist across the country. We are alarmed that the South Yorkshire region has over 9 times the rate of hospital admissions for dentistry among under fifteen year olds compared to Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.
“In addition 5-9 year olds continue to account for the highest age group to be admitted to hospital for tooth decay when this is nearly entirely preventable.
“Hospital treatment is often required for dental problems that are more serious and complex. We strongly urge the government to invest in further research to understand the variation.
“A national public health programme is urgently needed to tackle preventable tooth decay.”
Serbjit Kaur, Acting Chief Dental Officer, NHS England, said
“Accident and emergency attendances for dental treatments have decreased by 16 % since 2011. Whilst the most common dental admissions to hospital are for the surgical removal of teeth resulting from cavities and decay, these admissions along with the reasons for dental appointment will vary from region to region. Our long term approach is to continue to raise awareness about oral health care across England and increase the number of patients that are seen by NHS dentists thereby reducing any accident and emergency attendances, outside of unforeseen circumstances.”
“Oral health has generally improved, current work to reform the dental contract to focus care on prevention and improved outcomes, and publication of the commissioning guides for dental services will improve patient pathways and reduce hospital admissions.
“Access continues to improve however, more work needs to be done to reduce inequalities in access and outcomes. We are developing a specific indicator on extractions of teeth in children under 10 years for the NHS Outcomes Framework, drawing on HES data. This will improve the quality of the data we collect and allow more robust analysis of regional variation.”
NHS England expect the preventative approach and improved care pathways to reduce hospital admissions.
Numbers of children being treated for dental decay in hospital still far too high, says BSPD
The latest figures for hospital admissions released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that the number of people treated for dental decay in hospitals in England rose by 1 per cent, from 109,485 in the year April 2013 to March 2014 to 110,590 in 2014/15.
A high percentage of these patients will be children referred to hospital for extractions to be carried out under a general anaesthetic. BSPD wishes to raise awareness of the unacceptably high number of operations for a disease which is nearly always preventable.
Claire Stevens, spokeswoman for BSPD, commented: “Dental decay in children remains a leading cause of admissions to hospital in England. And week in, week out, there are many more young patients being treated for dental decay in general practice.”
“We want to see a national programme of prevention in England akin to Childsmile in Scotland where dental decay in children is reducing. BSPD is looking forward to working with policy makers and we shall be meeting the Department of Health working group for children's dentistry later this month.”