Concerned but don’t want to complain? Have a problem, but don’t know who to talk to? Worried but not sure what to do? Need information, but don’t know who to ask?
The NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help. Whether you are a patient or a carer let us help to make it easier.
PALS is a confidential service that provides information advice and support for patients, families and carers. PALS seek to promote the importance of listening to patient enquiries and concerns. To support this, the PALS team work closely with staff who have direct contact with patients, their families and carers, providing help and information regarding enquiries or concerns raised by those receiving care or treatment.
For further enquiries call PALS on Freephone 0800 0151 548, land-line 01452 566698 or you can email: glicb.pals@nhs.net. The phone lines have an answering service so messages can be left at any time. Please note our team are experiencing a significant number of contacts and due to staff capacity, we may take longer to get back to you. We will endeavour to respond to your query within the next 10 working days and sooner if possible.
NHS Dental Services
NHS Gloucestershire became responsible for commissioning (purchasing) local dentistry services in April 2023 when NHS England delegated this responsibility.
We are aware that access to NHS dentistry in Gloucestershire is very challenging and are working hard to try and improve the situation for residents.
In Gloucestershire, there are 62 NHS dental practices. We are actively working with dentists in Gloucestershire, with help from patient representatives, to bring more services on board.
Our first priority is to secure additional appointments for patients with urgent needs, and last year, we invited all NHS dental practices to take on more NHS dentistry for this.
There are now urgent care appointments available each week at clinics across the county, including weeknight and weekend clinics. Patients can access these appointments by contacting NHS 111.
We also invited practices to provide additional NHS appointments for patients who are not known to a dentist to help them avoid the need for frequent urgent support.
Nearly 200 additional appointments, which may include follow-up appointments, are now provided each week.
There are two current initiatives that support improvements in oral health for children and babies.
At Home Dental provide a supervised toothbrushing service in some schools for children aged 3 – 5, with children brushing their teeth with fluoride toothpaste every day under staff supervision.
We are working closely with At Home Dental and Public Health colleagues, who hold the statutory responsibility for oral health improvement, to support this programme, which started in January 2024.
First Dental Steps is a new service for all babies, provided by Health Visiting teams at the baby’s 9- and 12-month reviews. It offers parents oral health advice, and they are given a dental pack.
Our longer-term priorities include an increase in the number of NHS appointments overall and to provide NHS dentistry to care home residents.
Background information about access to NHS dental services
Dental practices are independent businesses, often providing a combination of NHS and private dentistry. Patients are not registered with a dentist in the same way they are with a General Practitioner (doctor), and individuals can access services at a dental practice located in any area if the practice is accepting new patients. Practices providing NHS treatment are listed on www.nhs.uk.
Urgent dental care
If any individual has a dental emergency, there are arrangements in place to ensure that anyone who does not have a dentist and has an urgent dental need can access an urgent dental appointment. Patients should contact NHS 111.
