Variations in provision of dental general anaesthetic for children in England

Introduction Dental general anaesthetic (DGA) remains one of the main modalities to deliver treatment to paediatric patients. The main central registry system which is used as a proxy measure of DGA provision is the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data on hospital admission of children for dental extractions. This database does not accurately reflect the number of DGAs as it omits non-hospital-based providers and the data includes treatment under sedation. Aims The aim is to describe the paediatric DGA service provision across England and determine type of provider (NHS Trusts or Community Dental Services [CDSs]), type of lists (extraction or comprehensive care) and the speciality planning the service. Methods Potential providers were identified using the provider-level analysis in HES database (for NHS trusts) and the NHS Business Services Authority and internet-based search engine (for CDS providers). All potential providers were contacted (n = 204) and provided with a pro forma to collect data. Results Response rate was 82% and 115 providers confirmed provision of paediatric DGA. These were mostly NHS trusts (72%). Not all providers appeared in the HES database (25%). Half of the providers provided separate lists for exodontia versus comprehensive care. Only 32% of the lists were planned by specialists in paediatric dentistry. All regions, apart from London, had some comprehensive care lists planned by non-paediatric dentists. Conclusion The results highlighted the inaccuracies in the HES, variation in service provision across England and the lack of paediatric speciality-led DGA services. Paediatric DGA needs to be better recorded and commissioned.