Portal to launch across Wales to improve dental treatment access

A digital service is being launched in Wales to improve access to routine NHS dental treatment for people across the country.

Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) built the service, which will provide a central platform for health boards to allocate places for routine dental treatment at NHS dental practices across Wales.

The Dental Access Portal will begin roll out on a health board by health board basis by the end of 2024, following a pilot in Powys Teaching Health Board region which took place between 12 June 2024 and 19 September 2024.

Jeremy Miles, cabinet secretary for health and social care, said: “The new portal will help patients in Powys avoid spending time calling round dental practices seeking an NHS dentist.

“This is one of many improvements we are making to improve access to NHS dental services, and I look forward to the portal being rolled out across Wales”.

Under the pilot in Powys, people who were already on a health board dental waiting list were automatically added to the portal and given the opportunity to opt out, should they wish to by logging into the portal or by contacting their health board.

After joining the Dental Access Portal, patients are able to securely log in to check on the status of their application.

Currently, there is significant variation between health board allocation of NHS dentist places, making it difficult to measure the true level of demand both locally and nationally.

When the portal is rolled out nationally it will provide the Welsh government, NHS Wales, and partner organisations with a clearer picture of the scale of demand for NHS dental services.

To be eligible to apply through the portal, people must be aged 16 or over (parents/guardians can apply for under 16s), not have received routine dental treatment on the NHS in the last four years and live at an address in Wales for more than six months of the year or attend a Welsh GP practice.

Meanwhile, PharmacyX has recently been announced as the latest healthcare technology supplier to help deliver an electronic prescription service (EPS) in Wales as part of the Digital Medicines initiative, managed by DHCW.