NHS Grampian has five times as many patients waiting over 12 weeks for dental treatment than it did four years ago, it has emerged.
A dental consultant shortage was blamed last night for the “eye-watering” waits.
NHS Grampian and NHS Highland are suffering from the worst records in Scotland when it comes to the proportion of patients waiting too long for treatment.
Last night, a spokesman for the health board admitted waits were “far longer” than the board would like but stressed there had been a 37% improvement when compared with last year.
But the British Dental Association (BDA) warned the figures were only the tip of the iceberg as patients often have to wait longer for referral from local dentist to hospital.
The BDA claimed unfilled posts had contributed to the problem as had a failure to prevent decay through regular check-ups.
Carly Fraser, BDA North of Scotland chairwoman, said: “These eye-watering waiting times are what patients are being faced with once they have reached secondary care; the true wait from referral in their local practice to treatment can often be substantially longer then 12 weeks.”
The Mintlaw-based dentist said a “specialist dental shortage” and “failure on prevention” were behind the “epic” waits.
“People failing to attend the dentist for a regular check are then requiring more complex treatment on referral when they do attend,” she added.
The BDA pointed to the “sustained difficulties” in recruiting consultants to the north-east as one of the reasons for the delays.
Figures obtained by the Lib Dems for March this year found that of the 543 patients waiting for dental hospital treatment in Grampian, 263 had waited longer than 12 weeks – the equivalent of 48%.
Those waiting longer than the target had increased five fold when compared with the 50 patients (out of 813) waiting more than 12 weeks in 2015.
The only health board with a greater percentage of patients missing the target was NHS Highland.
Or the 324 patients in line for NHS Highland hospital treatment, 191 had been waiting for more than 12 weeks – the equivalent of 59% and the highest proportion in Scotland.
NHS Highland had a tenfold increase in the length of waits over the last four years. In 2015 just 18 out of 161 patients waited more than 12 weeks.
>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter
North East Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles said a decade of under-funding had left a “huge hole” in Grampian’s ability to provide treatment in a reasonable time.
He said: “It is the patients and hardworking staff that are being made to suffer. Once again, the gap in performance between our local health board and others in Scotland is plain to see, with almost half of the patients currently on the list for treatment having waited longer than the 12-week deadline.”
A NHS Grampian spokesman said: “We are aware of issues regarding waiting times in this area and are working hard to resolve the problem. Year-on-year NHS Grampian saw an improvement on this measure, with a near 37% reduction in the number of patients being seen outwith the 12 week timeframe compared to 2018.
“That said waiting times for the service are far longer than we would like and we continue to provide the best service we can in the current circumstances.
“It is also important to emphasis patients in the most urgent need of treatment are seen as a matter of priority.”
