Community dental services provide dental care for children and adults who cannot visit a general dental practice because they have specific needs, for example, they may have a disability or need specialist care. To access these services, you need to be referred by a general dental practitioner, doctor or other health care professional.
In West Yorkshire, these services are provided by:
- Bradford District and Craven – Bradford District Care NHS Trust
- Calderdale and Kirklees – Locala Health and Wellbeing
- Leeds – Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. The LCH 0-19 Public Health Integrated Nursing Team provides oral health information and support for anyone working with children that have additional needs, including Specialist Inclusive Learning Centres (SILCs).
- Wakefield District – Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust
There has long been a tradition of partnership working in West Yorkshire and the providers of community dental services (CDS) are coming together to support, share and jointly design services that work for both our staff and West Yorkshire residents.
CDS providers recognise that dentistry services, like other parts of primary care, are under significant pressure and facing several challenges. We also know access to NHS dental services is a key concern for many people.
Similar challenges are also facing our community dental services, both in system capacity and patient need. That’s why we are working with each other and colleagues across the wider health and care system to address these challenges and maintain and grow our own community dental services.
We will keep you updated as this work develops.