NHS direct and access to dental care.

Publisher: British Dental Journal Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7513219 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0007-0610 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00070610 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br Dent J Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: London : British Dental Journal
Original Publication: London.

Dental Care* ; Health Services Accessibility*/organization & administration ; Hotlines* ; State Medicine*; Community-Institutional Relations ; England ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Pilot Projects ; Referral and Consultation ; Triage ; United Kingdom

NHS Direct - the nurse-led 24-hour telephone helpline - is the flagship initiative of the 'New NHS'. The scheme is already available to over 19 million people, and is planned to serve 60% of England by the end of 1999 and the whole of the country by the end of 2000. It is intended to revolutionise how and when people access the NHS, particularly out-of-hours. The present government has recently also signalled that NHS Direct should play a key role in rebuilding accessibility to NHS dentistry. Yet many dentists are unaware of its existence, and within the profession there has been little debate regarding its actual or likely future impact on how people access dental care. This article briefly describes the concept and early experiences of NHS Direct, and speculates about its potential impact on how people access dental care.

Date Created: 20000202 Date Completed: 20000216 Latest Revision: 20190719

20221213

10.1038/sj.bdj.4800354

10654436