"Added demand" on Children's Dental Service

Monday 01 July 2019

Some local children have had to miss out on a free check through the Children's Dental Service while HSC copes with rising demand because of Guernsey's new income support scheme.

On reaching 3.5-years-old, all children in Guernsey are eligible for a free appointment with the States dental service.

However, since the rent rebate and supplementary benefit schemes merged to create income support last year, nearly 500 more children are on the scheme and therefore qualify for the dental service.

This has led to some parents being turned away from their child's 3.5-year appointment and being told to book a check-up with a private dentist instead.

Pictured: The income support scheme was introduced in July 2018.

"We are urgently looking for alternative options to accommodate the added demand, as it is of course right that parents who are eligible for the service are able to seek appointments," said a spokesperson for Health and Social Care. "HSC believes it is incredibly important that children receive good dental care.

"We apologise to those parents who, for the time being, are not able to access the service as they had expected and we wish to assure anyone who has been turned away from the service for a 3.5-year check-up that we will be in touch with them to offer an alternative as soon as we are able to do so.

"We also wish to reassure any parent who has sought a private check-up as a result of not being able to access the 3.5-year check will still be able to receive any follow-up treatment that is required from the Children's Dental Service."

Any parents or carers who are unsure if their child is eligible for the service can call 707427 or go to gov.gg/childrensdentalservice.