Until recently it has been when you contact a public clinic for
oral and/or dental care that mostly determined when you get an
appointment, not how urgent your need for care, according to a
report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare.
A study using information from nearly 1,600 individual
experiences of people reporting to public clinics in New South
Wales and South Australia between 1999 and 2001 was aimed at
developing an accurate method that could be used by reception staff
to give priority to prospective dental patients based on need.
The report, Relative needs index study, South Australia and
New South Wales, examines how to efficiently and fairly
allocate those limited resources in the face of need for urgent
dental services.
'The study used people's self-reported symptoms and consequences
of oral problems to predict the urgency with which they should be
seen as judged by a dentist,' said report co-author Professor John
Spencer of The University of Adelaide.
Patients seeking 'emergency' dental care were divided into those
needing to be seen in less than 48 hours, 2-7 days, 8-13 days, and
able to wait 14 days or more.
Only 36% needed to be seen in less than 48 hours. About 35%
needed to be seen within 2-7 days; 10% needed to be seen in 8-13
days and 19% could wait 14 days or longer.
'We looked for reported experience of pain or other oral
symptoms and how these affected people's day-to-day living, which
then helped to predict the urgency of dental care as judged by a
public dentist,' said Professor Spencer.
'People's experiences can be readily collected by receptionist
staff and appropriate advice given about the urgency of their need
for dental care.
'This leads to a fairer system than a 'first come, first served'
approach. It also assists with more consistency in how requests for
dental services are handled across public clinics and allows better
management of appointments and clinic staff,' he said.
The report also documents ways of prioritising general dental
services, where waiting times for an appointment are much longer,
usually many months.
'The study has influenced some state public dental service
procedures and these appear to be working very well,' said
Professor Spencer.
'It is important that ways of improving dental service provision
are explored as well as anticipating additional resources,' he
said.
Friday 26 June 2009
Further information: John Spencer, tel. 08 8303
5438
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. (02) 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications area
for the availability of Relative needs index
study, South Australia and New South Wales.