IOM DHSC & MANX CARE

[Jarndyce]

4 minutes ago, Gladys said:

It was good to hear the well-informed (!)  Health Minister stumbling through an interview on MR this morning.  

He would have done better to ask for notice of the general questions and been briefed by those involved before going on the Nation's Station. 

It’s arrogance.   He assumed that he’d be able to bluff and bully his way through - and was tripped up very quickly.

[Andy Onchan]

32 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

Not necessarily disagreeing with you - but did you have a particular position (or positions) in mind?   Do you have any evidence of fabricated posts and “chumocracy”?

It happens.

[Jarndyce]

6 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

It happens

I suspect you’re right - and not just in Manx Care.   But Buggane’s post sounded very specific - I wonder if there was any information to back up the claim.

[Shake me up Judy]

The way that private dentistry moved in and now controls dentistry on the Island, is a salutary lesson for an NHS looking to perhaps outsource and privatise other services. Dentistry has become a money-making machine and the NHS is effectively subsidising it. Even NHS patients can find themselves paying well over £200 for a visit to their dentist. It's only free health care for pensioners and those on benefits.

[Gladys]

35 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

It’s arrogance.   He assumed that he’d be able to bluff and bully his way through - and was tripped up very quickly.

Like any contract can be terminated.  Surely there has to be a right of termination? Otherwise it is by agreement, which could involve a substantial payout to buy out the perpetual nature of the contract, particularly if the desire to terminate is by the employing party.  

[GD4ELI]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

So ~4% of the population. And of these 2,756 how many could afford private dentists but are just too tight?

[Banker]

57 minutes ago, Shake me up Judy said:

The way that private dentistry moved in and now controls dentistry on the Island, is a salutary lesson for an NHS looking to perhaps outsource and privatise other services. Dentistry has become a money-making machine and the NHS is effectively subsidising it. Even NHS patients can find themselves paying well over £200 for a visit to their dentist. It's only free health care for pensioners and those on benefits.

As I say exactly the same in UK & even pensioners & those on benefits are unable to access NHS dentists, the stories of people pulling their own teeth, in a&e with teeth infections are common. Not quite as bad here with emergency NHS dentistry still available I understand 

[Moghrey Mie]

Progress on oral health?

https://www.gov.im/media/1375594/oh-implementation-plan-final.pdf

[2112]

14 hours ago, Catrisk said:

Most businesses only pay the referral fee if the person referred passes probation. So maybe none have, or maybe the place is so bad that they left before probation was up? 

You are right of course but sadly the reporting is appalling. 

[Roger Mexico]

It's a well-put-together piece on the Manx Radio website (presumably from Christian Jones) and a good example of how their online offer has improved over the last few years.  This is important because it also makes a lot of the broadcast content more accessible and preserves it for more than a short period.  I suspect Beth Espey taking over from Tim Glover as News Editor has made a big difference.

But it does have to be pointed out that the only dentists we hear from are Tracey Bell and James Garritt and the latter works for Bell and is her personal partner.  So effectively we're only only hearing from one particular practice and one that we know has issues with DHSC/Manx Care as we saw from their refusal to participate in the first CQC inspection, though they did cooperate with a second one in November.  But it still raises some interesting issues and if other practices are benefiting from overly-generous, unlimited contracts, they're going to keep quiet about it.

And the number of those without a dentist is worrying.  The headline figure is incorrect as the information is derived from an FoI response dated 2 February[1] which says [t]here are currently 2,756 people on the dental waiting list (as of 17/01/23). This figure changes daily and as the MR report also claims that Manx Care have since told them 12 people, on average, were added to the list every day in February[2] for various reasons, which implies the number will have increased to over 3,000 by now just from that - never mind the other 20 plus days since the 2,756 figure.  Along with Bell and Garritt I suspect that the figure is an underestimate and many people, especially those new to the island, don't bother to try to register and may not even know how to or that they can.  So they only start looking for a dentist when they need one.

Hooper flailing about, uncertain of what is happening is pretty much to be expected by now, but a lot of that derives from the way the ministerial system operates and relationship between DHSC and Manx Care.

 

[1]  In another improvement someone at MR has realised the servlet problem and uploaded the document rather than use an soon-to-be-dead link.

[2] The only problem with this is that we don't know if this is the nett number increase or whether people are being placed with dentists apart from that and also whether the requirement is verified or if say those "de-registered due to lack of attendance" have actually left the Island.

[Andy Onchan]

1 hour ago, GD4ELI said:

So ~4% of the population. And of these 2,756 how many could afford private dentists but are just too tight?

Assuming they are taxpayers (or have been) are they not entitled to the service?

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Progress on oral health?

https://www.gov.im/media/1375594/oh-implementation-plan-final.pdf

Well as that plan is over two years old and it's a five year plan, it would interesting to know far they have got with it.  But what strikes me about it is how little contact it has with reality.  Few of the objectives seem to be about directly improving children's oral health or measuring that it has been.  The word 'dentist' appears only once.  As with so much public health, the main aim seems to be looking as if something is being done rather than actually improving things.  (And then blaming the public when they don't improve).

[Moghrey Mie]

40 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well as that plan is over two years old and it's a five year plan, it would interesting to know far they have got with it.  But what strikes me about it is how little contact it has with reality.  Few of the objectives seem to be about directly improving children's oral health or measuring that it has been.  The word 'dentist' appears only once.  As with so much public health, the main aim seems to be looking as if something is being done rather than actually improving things.  (And then blaming the public when they don't improve).

It's supposed to be a 'live document'.

[Jarndyce]

4 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

I suspect Beth Espey taking over from Tim Glover as News Editor has made a big difference.

Indeed - a big improvement.

[wrighty]

Here’s my 3-point plan to solve dentistry on the island. 
 

1. Re-introduce the school dental service to get kids used to dentists, educate them about hygiene, and identify potential problems early. 
    
2. Fluoridate the water supply
3. Fully privatise primary dental care for working age adults. A check up and a couple of scale/polishes a year doesn’t cost a fortune - most people spend more on haircuts (and nobody suggests that should be an NHS service)