NHS dental reforms need better data systems
The government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England includes dentistry in the areas of healthcare that need ‘fixing’ – but it stops short of providing the detail about how it intends to do so.
We need good quality actionable data to understand and address population needs, assess, plan, and target resources, say Kristina Wanyonyi-Kay, Ben Goldacre and Mary Dixon-Woods.
“The data we currently have is limited, which makes it harder to allocate resources, identify inequities and implement digital reforms,” says Kristina.
Creating an acceptable and actionable data ecosystem will involve collaboration between key stakeholders, including data controllers, policymakers, researchers, patients, and healthcare professionals.
Kristina Wanyonyi-Kay
This BMJ opinion piece discusses the need for a better data infrastructure, in line with the newly released National Centre for Social Research adult oral health survey, which also highlights persisting challenges for dentistry. Suggesting that oral health has been overlooked for too long, we suggest that dentistry could learn from successful areas such as primary care when it comes to data transformation. Investment in a better dental data ecosystem now could be very high yield, helping to improve care for all.