Agenda item

To received an update from representatives from King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the outcomes from a follow-up exercise with the patients of the Community Dental Service formerly based at the Parkway Health Centre.

At their meeting held on 20 November 2018, the Sub-Committee had raised concern about the Community Dental Service being discontinued at the Parkway Health Centre in New Addington. As such an update from the operator of the service, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was requested for March 2019, to address the concerns raised by the Sub-Committee at their meeting on 20 November.

The following representatives from King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were in attendance at the meeting to provide the update:-

·         Doctor Rob Hale - Consultant in Special Care Dentistry and Head of Department for Community Special Care Dentistry, and

·         Paul Chandler - Deputy Director of Operations 

From the update provided, it was confirmed that the decision to discontinue the Community Dental Service at the Parkway Health Centre had not been reconsidered, as the equipment used by the service had already been decommissioned and was no longer available.

An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) had been undertaken following concerns raised by the Sub-Committee at the meeting on 20 November.  The EIA acknowledged the high impact from the closure for patients with disabilities and also the high impact from transport related issues for patients who now needed to travel to alternate locations to access the service. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had written to the 250 patients who used the service, receiving six responses that would be acted upon.

Looking further forward, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had expressed an interest locating a Community Dental Service at the new leisure facility being built in New Addington. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had also recently participated in an Oral Health Stakeholder Workshop, which had resulted in them agreeing to be part of the Steering Group for oral health in the borough.

Following the update, Members were given the opportunity to question the representatives from King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust about the provision of the Community Dental Service. The first question concerned the transportation issues highlighted in the EIA, with it questioned whether there had been any mitigating factors introduced as a result. It was confirmed that hospital patient transport had been offered to patients unable to travel to the service in Thornton Heath.

Although the undertaking of an EIA on the decision to close the Community Dental Service at the Parkway Health Centre was welcomed, there was a concern that it focussed specifically on disability and did not give consideration to socioeconomic factors that could also be a barrier to patients using public transport, which was acknowledged by the representatives from King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

It was questioned whether consideration had been given to relocating the service at another site in the borough, with the Sanderstead Clinic and the recently refurbished Purley War Memorial Hospital suggested as possible alternatives. It was advised that King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was working with the Public Health team at the Council to explore different options, but potential barriers included the standards required to provide dental services and the difficulty in justifying a significant capital spend on a temporary facility.

As it was acknowledged that work continued to be progressed on the future of the Community Dental Service in the borough, a further written update was requested to set out both the interim and long term plans for the Service along with indicative timescales.

The Chairman thanked the representatives on behalf of the Sub-Committee for their attendance at the meeting.

Conclusions

Following the discussion of this item, the Sub-Committee reached the following conclusions:

1.    Although the decision making process which had led to the closure of the Community Dental Service at the Parkway Health Centre had been flawed, it had provided the opportunity for everyone involved to learn from the process

2.    Looking forward, reassurance could be taken that both King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Public Health team were working together to explore options for the long term future of the Community Dental Service in the borough.

3.    That a further, written update on the future of the Community Dental Service would be required once the plans had been finalised.