Thank you for your request for information about the following:

‘I previously made a request (FOI Request Final Response 25516) I am now requesting the same data in the same format for CDS surveys for June and Sept 2022, the submission deadlines for which have now passed. Under the Freedom of Information Act I am seeking information collection via the BSA's Community Dental Services (CDS) data collection survey.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2021-09/CDS_survey_guidance_Oct_2021_v2.0.pdf

As per BSA guidance notes, I am taking ‘adults’ to mean ‘special care’ patients. My request reflects the fact that data is collected for CDS treatment involving i) routine care, ii) sedation and iii) General Anaesthetic Please provide national headlines for England the following for the two specified dates:

• Number of patients waiting for a first assessment (Adults)

• Number of patients waiting for a first assessment (Paeds)

• Number of patients assessed and waiting for a first appointment for treatment (Adults)

• Number of patients assessed and waiting for a first appointment for treatment (Paeds)

AVERAGE WAITING TIMES

• Average waiting time for patients first treatment appointment for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (Adults)

• Average waiting time for patients first treatment appointment for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (Paeds) %

BEGINING TREATMENT WITHIN 18 WEEKS OF REFERRAL

• Percentage of patients who receive and begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (adults)

• Percentage of patients who receive and begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (paeds)

LONGEST WAITING TIMES

• The longest waiting time for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (Adults - please also name the sites)

• The longest waiting time for i) routine treatment ii) sedation and iii) general anaesthetic (Paeds - please also name the sites)

CAPACITY

• The estimated average proportion of pre-pandemic clinical capacity for CDS sites currently providing these procedures.

• The name of the CDS site reporting the lowest proportion of pre-pandemic clinical capacity, along with the percentage of pre-COVID capacity it is currently estimated operating at.’

Your request was received on 19 October 2022 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

Percentage of pre-COVID capacity it is currently estimated operating at.

I am writing to advise you that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority. The data received in response to surveys does not allow us to answer this question.

Averages

For questions about averages, the respondents provide their own average, and the information we have supplied is the average of those averages. We do not hold the raw numbers to calculate the actual national averages.

Percentages of Patients

Please note that we do not hold information on the overall percentage of patients, each survey respondent only supplies their percentage, but not the raw numbers which these are based on. Therefore, we cannot supply the overall percentage. We have therefore supplied you with the average of percentages received.

Split between “Adult” and “Paed”

The questions about percentages beginning treatment within 18 weeks of referral, and longest wait times do not separate between “adults” and “paeds” so the information collected in response to those questions do not provide that level of detail. Therefore, that information is also not held. We have supplied the average of the overall percentages, and the longest wait times but without splitting as requested.

Remaining Data

A copy of the information is attached.

For clarity on the ‘sum’ and ‘count’ metrics:

joined_treat : in this dataset sum relates to the sum total of ‘Number of patients assessed and waiting for first appointment for treatment’ whereas count relates to the number of instances, e.g. if two trusts had reported 30 patients their count would be two with a sum of 30.

joined_assess : in this dataset sum relates to the sum total of ‘Number of patients waiting for a first assessment’ whereas count relates to the number of instances, e.g. if two trusts had reported 30 patients their count would be two with a sum of 30.

joined_avg : count relates to the number of instances, i.e. trusts reporting this data.

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact nhsbsa.foirequests@nhs.net ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “Dental Services, NHSBSA Copyright 2022” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated.