Could more Level 2 paediatric practitioners make a difference? An evaluation of paediatric patient care pathways in...

Aim The aim of this service evaluation was to understand the pathways of care followed by paediatric patients referred to an established community dental service (CDS), and to determine whether an increase in the Level 2 paediatric dentist workforce would potentially reduce the burden on consultant and specialist paediatric services, as well as CDSs.Materials and methods Consecutive referrals and clinical records for 107 paediatric patients referred to the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust CDS were reviewed by two data collectors. The referrals of the patients were analysed, with the referral source, reason for referral, priority of referral and age of child being recorded. The care pathways of the patients were also reviewed to determine the level of practitioner seen, the treatment provided at each appointment and the treatment modality (management without anaesthesia, local anaesthetic, inhalation sedation, general anaesthetic).Results Out of a total 299 appointments, 55.9% (n = 167) of these were undertaken by Level 2 practitioners and 42.0% of patients only saw a Level 2 practitioner during their whole care pathway. Almost half of patients (43.0%) had a general anaesthetic, of which 16 patients had only a single visit to the CDS before the general anaesthetic.