Special Care Dental Services in South West England

Overview

This survey is being carried out by NHS England and NHS Improvement to find out the views of patients, potential patients, parents, carers and advocates of the special care dental services that they commission in the South West of England:

• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
• Devon
• Wiltshire
• Gloucestershire
• Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG)
• Somerset

Responses will help us in the development of these services in the future. We are keen to get as much feedback as we can and would be grateful if you could complete this survey. 

What are special care dental services?

Special care dentistry is for people who have a condition that means they cannot use a high street dentist. Those using the services include:  

• People suffering from anxiety and/or extreme phobia of dental treatment
• People with learning difficulties and/or autism
• People with physical disabilities
• People experiencing dementia
• Patients who need bariatric equipment
• People undergoing treatment for cancer
• Some homeless people

Why are we asking for views?

We know that our special care dental clinics provide an invaluable service to some of our most vulnerable people in the South West of England. Our ambition is to ensure that the services are as good and as accessible as possible for those who need them.  

We want the views of people who currently use the services, or are eligible to use them, to assist with future service developments.  

At the end of this process we will be analysing the feedback, sharing our findings and explaining what is likely to happen next.  

If you have any questions, please send them to: scwcsu.specialcaredentalsurvey@nhs.net

An easy read version of the survey is available here.